- Mar 11, 2015
- 98,859
- 97,003
- 3,645
The so-called culture wars in modern times beginning with Reagan have primarily been attacks on race, but over the years, it has also included sex and now has expanded into gender. All of these things are identities, yet the right has been able to successfully make less than intelligent people believe that only the left has been using identity politics.
Debate over these issues is intensifying as candidates gear up for the 2024 presidential cycle – but how did identity openly become one of the leading narratives for conservative politicians on the campaign trail?
But the culture wars as we know it begins in the 1960s, which were rife with movements for liberation and change, according to historians.
Marginalized groups in the Civil Rights, Black power, Chicano, feminist and gay rights movements were demanding equal rights and challenging the "normative American culture" of the '50s that had begun to solidify, according to historian and author Andrew Hartman.
The upheaval of traditional American values was met with anger and backlash – particularly from the Christian and religious right who began "feeling like the nation itself no longer represented them or their values," Hartman told ABC News.
In the '80s, the Republican party grew increasingly aligned with religious conservatives, "noticing that [Reagan] could gain a lot of electoral traction by speaking about issues that matter to the Christian right, to evangelicals," Hartman said.
The remnants of this shift remain in the GOP and conservative movements of today.
"The things that we now associate with the Republicans in terms of their anti-trans, anti-critical race theory – the culture wars they're fighting right now – you see all of this even during the Reagan years."
abcnews.go.com
Identity politics is as old as America itself, and to ignore how Republicans have used identity politics is representative of how right-wing propaganda has affected American society. So now the right is telling everybody that because their racism is being called out, it is creating defeat at the polls for Democrats and that if Democrats stop exposing and calling out right-wing racism Democrats will get more support. If anyone believes that, I live in Kansas and will sell you some very fine Kansas oceanfront property.
Culture wars: How identity became the center of politics in America
Identity – including race, sexual orientation, gender – have become lightning rod subjects of hundreds of bills in state legislatures across the country as Americans across the political spectrum seek to define the nation's values.Debate over these issues is intensifying as candidates gear up for the 2024 presidential cycle – but how did identity openly become one of the leading narratives for conservative politicians on the campaign trail?
The culture wars begin
When the culture wars in the United States first started is arguable.But the culture wars as we know it begins in the 1960s, which were rife with movements for liberation and change, according to historians.
Marginalized groups in the Civil Rights, Black power, Chicano, feminist and gay rights movements were demanding equal rights and challenging the "normative American culture" of the '50s that had begun to solidify, according to historian and author Andrew Hartman.
The upheaval of traditional American values was met with anger and backlash – particularly from the Christian and religious right who began "feeling like the nation itself no longer represented them or their values," Hartman told ABC News.
In the '80s, the Republican party grew increasingly aligned with religious conservatives, "noticing that [Reagan] could gain a lot of electoral traction by speaking about issues that matter to the Christian right, to evangelicals," Hartman said.
The remnants of this shift remain in the GOP and conservative movements of today.
"The things that we now associate with the Republicans in terms of their anti-trans, anti-critical race theory – the culture wars they're fighting right now – you see all of this even during the Reagan years."
Culture wars: How identity became the center of politics in America
The so-called culture wars taking over politics ahead of the 2024 presidential election have been decades in the making.
abcnews.go.com
Identity politics is as old as America itself, and to ignore how Republicans have used identity politics is representative of how right-wing propaganda has affected American society. So now the right is telling everybody that because their racism is being called out, it is creating defeat at the polls for Democrats and that if Democrats stop exposing and calling out right-wing racism Democrats will get more support. If anyone believes that, I live in Kansas and will sell you some very fine Kansas oceanfront property.
PROJECTION OVERLOAD
