The Irony of Progressive Uniformity: Conflict Between Overlapping Identities

We as a seemingly progressive community, have focused attention on the nature of political identities – ethnic, national, religious – and the relationships among them.  The development of stronger national identities seems inevitable, given the indirect requirement of national pride plastered onto a country’s citizens. The issue then lies in communities, and specifically the young and impressionable within the communities, having to choose between identities in order to fit in. 

The importance of asking ‘what kinds of identities are essential to sustain a democratic political community’ should not be ignored, and the seemingly problematic question of ‘how should we reconcile the demands of particular identities – rooted in ethnicity, race and gender and sustained by a need for recognition – with the need for a common identity?’ The approach to this topic by our elders has been characterized with a normative theory, embedded with claims and idealizations.  Thus, this topic is left to the new generation of thinkers – how can we allow each of our identities to stand out? Years of nationalism in theory and practice have diminished the powerful universality Muslims cherished in their societies.

 Studying these misconceptions of the self and ‘social identity’ draw attention to the psychological mechanisms underlying political identities. Guiding their analyses is the fundamental question: ‘What is the nature and development of social identities?’ But before we address this, we must also remember why it is important to have an identity in the first place.  In addressing this question, we must also then explore the implications of a closed mindset, and the inevitably resulting alienation. This alienation also manifests in overlapping cultural and institutional traditions. There must be an obvious distinction between the customs in both religion and culture. However, questioning this philosophy is encourages as well, and we can say that religion indeed influences culture. Likewise, just because a religion is found in a culture, does not guarantee that particular religion a spot in that culture. 

Another important issue within the range of concern is the evident discrimination and the reservation observed in many communities, with complete disregard to the fact that these issues are universal and therefore should be conquered together. Attempts to resolve these issues and obvious feelings of superiority in claiming only one identity as truth. Why are we not willing to accept these problematic tactics before they erupt, and solve these blatantly obtrusive issues. 

The world is changing quickly.  We need to be fast, because keeping up with this change is  like running a race against the time we don’t have, because we are all walking on moving sands, and because in the face of high speed change, many people wish to slow down. What if we, as the youth, as teenagers, took this anger, took this confusion and turned it into passion? This acceptance and celebration of identity is long overdue, and there is  no more middle ground – either you become educated, or you become outdated. To quote Rachel Jackson,, “Our youth are not failing the system; the system is failing our youth. Ironically, the very youth who are being treated the worst are the young people who are going to lead us out of this nightmare.”