Kamala Harris Slams ‘Identity Politics’ Critics: These Issues Will ‘Define Our Identity as Americans’

Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris blasted critics of “identity politics,” saying that those who use the phrase are attempting to “marginalize issues that impact all of us.”

Speaking Friday at the Netroots Nation event in New Orleans, Harris implored her supporters to instead fully address the issues of race and gender.

“Let’s be clear,” Harris told the crowd. “When people say [identity politics], it’s a pejorative. That phrase is used to divide, and it is used to distract. Its purpose is to minimize and marginalize issues that impact all of us. It is used to try and shut us up.”

She further galvanized the audience, saying that Democrats won’t be silenced about immigrant rights and women’s reproductive rights.

Harris has said she hasn’t ruled out a presidential run in 2020.

“We won’t be shut up,” Harris said, adding that Republicans are trying to downplay the issues associated with “identity politics.”

She said those very issues will define the identity of Americans.

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