Wdn't put it exactly this way. Agree with Amy Chua's contention that tribalism's a natural human behavior, but many of us belong to multiple overlapping, different tribes, which diversify our alliances beyond ethnicity or religion. IME, common values/goals can be powerful glue... https://twitter.com/antoniogm/status/1339566576220033025

Our common sense of American identity isn't a "hoodwink" - it's a product of a shared sense of values, goals, history, & that our shared destinies are inextricably linked.

It is necessary glue. We need a formulation that works for present day. Bc ... https://twitter.com/antoniogm/status/1339567836172148736?s=19

Erosion of, & derision toward, shared American identity has been a powerful solvent. If we allow those bonds to further dissolve, the tribalist impulse will vest primarily in markers of identity, ethnicity, religion.

What will then manifest is far too predictable. & terrible.

IME the tribal impulse to ally with others is a primitive survival instinct. One I've felt pull on me repeatedly the last few years, as I've observed increasingly tribalized behavior & more aggression & agitation from larger contingents of the population.

This is untenable

There is a reason why - despite Trump's own occasionally clumsy messaging re natsec, immigration enforcement, & dangers posed by jihadi radicalism, & despite Dems, media's, & NGO-industrial caricaturization & false claims abt him for 5yrs - his support among POC & Muslims jumped.

Bc a critical mass of Americans of all backgrounds see & value what is good & unique about this country - chief among them, our unusual protections for freedom of conscience so that people of diverse views can live in peace & pursue their understanding of the good life.

Not to mention that many whose families came to US from lands torn apart by tribalized warfare, who already survived such trauma, have no desire to relive it or see their kids or grandkids endure it.

Don't underestimate unification power of shared desire for domestic tranquility

Our national narrative needs to appreciate - not denigrate - Western history & culture that informed America's founding. As well as subcultures' contribution evolution of her laws, culture, & spirit, & valuable lessons available to us from the vast sweep of human history.

IMHO, appreciating

Multiculturalism - NOT radical "post-colonial" form that demonizes "Western culture" &/or whites, but as commonly understood by most Americans: appreciating "non-dominant" subcultures' contributions & value

*&* "Western culture"

are both pieces of puzzle

Constant denigration of our shared American identity - & bizarre notion that anti-Westernism might offer a new form of national identity - is suicidal.

It's a societal, intergenerational version of the self-loathing perseveration all too familiar to any chronic depressive

We've spent some decades not just acknowledging errors of past generations of people who helped build this country, but meditating on & even obsessing over them with increasing frequency.

We're basically training ourselves to detest many of our ancestors. What could go wrong?

Foster parent training taught me it's crucial to not denigrate a kid's bio-parents. Kids tend to identify with parents. If you denigrate bio-parents, kids can hear/internalize a message that they're fruit of bad seed.

Result? They'll hate themselves, their bio-parents &/or YOU

"Inclusive" curriculum is full of bizarre race/sex/other essentialist notions, maudlin revisionist history, intergenerational resentments, radical post-colonial/anti-Western propaganda, us v them mentality & veneration of & identification with self-sabotaging, antisocial habits

When you understand how propaganda works, & appreciate well-supported observations from behavioral & developmental psych, the danger of IDE notions is clear. If you teach kids all our problems were caused by a particular group of people, they will come to fear & hate those people

If you teach kids that their society is constructed specifically to antagonize & oppress them &/or others, they will come to fear & hate that society. They will come to fear & hate elders in that society. Many will also lose any hope for making their own path in life. & those ...

... whose survival & thriving is already challenged, due to trauma, financial insecurity, chaotic environs, &/or parents & their issues ... Well, we're at risk of being effectively demoralized into despair & anxiety by the whole enterprise.

What an evil thing to do to people.

And this is what I've been trying to caution abt 3rd wave "anti-oppression" theory a while. It demoralizes black kids & other historically marginalized populations & alienates them from their own American identity, which they come to view with disgust. It frames our ancestors'...

... histories as solely tales of oppression. It omits our ancestors' resilience & triumphs over & despite historic indignities, wrongs, & persecution. It teaches that our ancestors were weak, victims. Not triumphant, self-actualized, psychologically & spiritually liberated humans

And it directly attacks the sense of self of white American kids & folks. It demonizes us, our complex, fallible, human ancestors, & their lessons. Which is a great way to produce new generations of existentially threatened, old school, white supremacists ... Along with folks ...

... who will simply & defiantly declare that Western culture is NOT the horror show it's portrayed as. To the contrary, "Western culture" (both liberalist & traditionalist) does a great job of inculcating lessons & tools that empower people to survive & thrive despite long odds