If anyone is a practioner of identity politics, it is Trump, Fox News, and the far flung media ecosystem of racist authoritarianism. As they tell it, “our” national identity – white, Christian, ethno nationalist, masculinist, straight, hard working, patriotic, etc. is under assault from the left, liberals, “fake news,” coastal elites, feminists, gay and transgender people, and, above all, people of color who, to their great fear, will soon be a governing majority.

This anti-democratic and false framing of our national identity can’t be ceded to the athortitarian right. We have to tell a different story of our country and its history. Not in a vacuum though.

But in the context of a bitterly contested election campaign where the coalition that defeated Trump and the Republican Party two years ago must shine a light once again on the impending danger of an anti-democratic, fascist like takeover, while making a case for robust, multi-racial democracy and economic and social policies – not least the unfinished domestic agenda of the Biden administration – that make a felt difference in people’s lives. And all this while articulating a compelling and egalitarian story of “America” to tens of millions.