The right needs to stop ignoring race when talking to voters

We are especially reluctant to engage on race because doing so tends to lead to identity politics, the antithesis of an ideas-based movement. Jonah Goldberg articulated the conservative position in a recent interview: “I’m against identity politics full stop, which means I’m against white identity politics at least as much as I’m against minority identity politics.”

While this sentiment might make sense in the abstract, in practice it is delusional. You simply cannot avoid racial identity politics in America. It is too ingrained in our history and will occur whether we like it or not. Conservatives should assume that everything in American politics will become racialized.

Conservative rhetoric and policies that ignore this tendency are as inert as liberal rhetoric and policies that ignore supply and demand. Conservatives who get upset when our allegedly universal beliefs become racialized are like liberals who get upset when rent controls fail. I would say to both groups: Why would you expect anything else?

Perhaps it would be nice if we could make arguments without addressing race. But that’s not the country we live in. By refusing to engage proactively, we make identity politics worse than it otherwise would have been, and many minorities tragically end up believing conservative ideas aren’t for them.