Escaping The Trap
“The Identity Trap” by Yascha Mounk is a book that I didn’t want to read but, ultimately, I’m glad I did.
I was born and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa in the darkest days of apartheid. I was born with a number assigned to me that identified my gender as male and my race as “Coloured”. This was a term used for people who were racially mixed. Everyone in South Africa had an identity card with a number. My race number was 01. I lived a few miles from Robben Island while Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there and in 1968 my family was forced to move from a racially mixed neighbourhood to a “coloureds only” area. My uncle’s beautiful family house, on the ocean, was seized and his family was relocated to a ghetto apartment block. It was a violent, unjust, and unrestful place.
Then, when I was 10 years old my world changed after my parents immigrated from South Africa to Canada. My dad was demoted from his job as a foreman in a printing shop and made to train his new boss who was fresh from Europe. It was too much for him to take, so he left his home, and we landed in Vancouver to start a new life. All I wanted was to fit in with the racially diverse crowd in Vancouver. I didn’t want to stand out as a kid. I lost my accent as quickly as I could and tried my best to distance myself from my heritage as much as possible. I was grateful for the opportunity to live in a non-segregated society.
I didn’t realize, when I moved here as a kid, that Canada had treated its indigenous peoples with a very similar approach. It too segregated its indigenous people into reserves. I later learned that South Africa patterned its segregation strategy upon Canada’s model.[1] Heinous crimes were committed against our first peoples. I’ve met people who can’t walk into a church because of the crimes committed against them by the church in residential schools. A lot of that story is still being uncovered. Just recently, 200 unmarked graves of children who died in a residential school were found in Kamloops, British Columbia. As much as my dad wanted to escape apartheid in South Africa, he unknowingly moved to a country that provided South Africa with a model for apartheid and politically supported apartheid.
Mounk’s book touches on a raw nerve for me. I appreciated Mounk’s analysis of what is happening in society. He coins the term “identity synthesis” as a phenomenon that has occurred as the result of a confluence of thought streams that include postmodernism, post-colonialism, and critical race theory. By “identity synthesis” he means the “role that identity categories like race, gender and sexual orientation play in the world.”[2] I do think that the people who are motivated by these ideals have a genuine desire to remedy the serious injustices that continue to plague us. I am grateful for their hearts. However, they reject universal values and neutral rules like free speech and equal opportunity, and they insist on making forms of group identity more central.[3] As a result, they have created a progressive apartheid (apartheid means apartness) in which people are segregated by gender and racial identity as a remedy for racism. Thus, the identity trap. To solve racism the focus on identity and separating people from one another based on identity has the opposite effect.[4] His solution is to focus on equity and universal values, while respecting the identity of each person.
What does the church have to offer to this conversation? I couldn’t help but reflect further on my personal identity issues and how I have tried to resolve them through my spiritual formation as a follower of Jesus. I carried a lot of anger and shame. I hid a lot of my cultural identity. First, I had to recognize my identity was “in Christ” and not in my race. Paul, writing to a divided church in Galatia wrote, “So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”[5] I had to name the shame and wrong labels that I carried with me from growing up in South Africa. I had to offer forgiveness for the wrongs that were committed. Regularly, I must still embrace the truth of who I am in Christ.
Claiming my identity in Christ has been a hard-fought battle, but I think this is where the gospel comes into play as we address the culture we live in. As I became rooted in my identity in Christ, I could truly embrace who I am as a human being and my unique identity. The gospel doesn’t make me less of who I am, it makes me more of who I am as a human being.
I appreciated this book but I think his solution, while good, is limited. He writes, “To build a just world, societies should strive to live up to their universalist aspirations instead of abandoning them.”[6] While this is true, I believe that humanity doesn’t have the power to do this apart from the transforming power of Jesus. As a survivor of South African apartheid, I’m grateful God has rescued me from the Identity Trap, and so much more.
[1] Yves Engler / December 26 and 2013 /, “Our Shame: Canada Supported Apartheid South Africa,” accessed February 14, 2024, https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/our-shame-canada-supported-apartheid-south-africa1.
[2] Yascha Mounk, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time (London: Allen Lane an imprint of Penguin Books, 2023).Kindle, Introduction.
[3] Mounk. Kindle, Introduction.
[4] Mounk.Kindle, Introduction.
[5] Galatians 3.26-29
[6] Mounk, The Identity Trap. Kindle. Chapter 14.
About the Author
Graham English
I was born in Cape Town, South Africa 30 minutes from Table Mountain, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. My family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada where I spent my teen years, met Wendy, and got married. We now live on the Canadian prairies in northern Alberta. I think God has a sense of humour. I'm a follower of Jesus, work in leadership and church development, love my family and walk a lot.18 responses to “Escaping The Trap”
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Wow Graham your post is inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story and the Good News of how Christ has shaped and molded your identity and how it is your identity in Christ that ultimately defines you. I resonated so much with your post and the ‘missing element’ of Mounk’s book, which is the Gospel of Jesus! Thank you!
Thanks, Ryan. As powerful as apartheid was at shaping negative identity, Jesus and the gospel have been that much more. It has actually made me more grateful for my cultural heritage and believe that God celebrates cultural differences. Blessings, brother.
Hi Graham, thank you for sharing this very vulnerable post.
Have you gone back to South Africa since immigrating? And how do you feel about going back next year?
I know you found Mounk’s recommendations to be lacking. Did you find any issues with his assessment of the problem?
Hi Christy, I have been back. Wendy, my wife, and I went back in 2015. It was her first time there. Yes, I am totally looking forward to going back again for the last Advance. It will be like the icing on the cake for me.
Graham,
I knew you are from South Africa, but in my mind I think of South Africa today, not a few (or more) decades ago. What an experience to go through as a youth. Are you ready to head back there next year? I look forward to your insight.
Just a few years ago, I was in Lesotho and we went into South Africa with a group of Sesotho people. I was truly blown away by the segregation and overt racism that still exists there even now-a-days. I had never experienced anything like it.
Hi Adam, I met someone back in 2016 when we visited who grew up near me. I didn’t know her but they knew about my family. We were among the first to leave and, as it happens, people talked about us. Pretty crazy to think I grew up during that time. It feels like a distant memory at times. However, when I went back it all came cascading back to me in waves. I was hit with memories and emotions.
I am very ready to go back for the last Advance. I want to show my cohort around. I have also reached out to a friend who worked in government with Mandella. Looks like he will be available when we’re there.
Hi Graham, Thank you for this post that brought Mounk’s work to being personal. I am so sorry that you, your family and so many others had to live through it. You wrote that claiming your identity in Christ was a hard fought battle. If I may ask, was it because you were programmed to think less of yourself because apartheid? Or, were there other messages that were crowding out Christ’s message of love and acceptance? The reason I am asking is because I wonder what all the angry rhetoric going on today if it is keeping people away from paying attention to God’s call on them to be his.
Thanks Diane. I appreciate your kindness. I think I used the words “fought hard” because, while our identity in Jesus is a gift to be received, there are days it feels like a battle. Romans 12 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It has been a battle to renew my mind in the truth of the gospel rather than believe in the lies that I grabbed hold of in the toxic system of apartheid.
Hi Graham, your post is very inspiring. Wow!
How do you see the concept of “identity synthesis” playing out in society today, particularly in relation to the focus on identity categories like race, gender, and sexual orientation?
Thanks Shela. I personally think along the same lines an Mounk, in that segregation of people according to race or sexual orientation doesn’t actually help bridge the chasm. I would love to see the integration of people while valuing, honouring and celebrating our differences. It seems that this would be the hard work of loving your neighbour.
Graham,
Thanks for sharing your personal story. I did not know that South Africa used Canada as a model. I’ve read your replies to others, I am glad that healing has taken place in both you and in South Africa. I’ve already asked Joel, but I can ask you the same question. Where do you see the Identity Trap in Canada? Assuming you do, just one example will suffice to help me understand.
Jeff, it’s definitely happening. I’m not an expert in this area but I seen it happening with our First Nations community. I have compassion on them and understand the need to be connected to their culture. However, I think segregation doesn’t help.
Graham,
Thank you so much for sharing a bit more of your backstory. I’m sorry you and your family endured such political and racial trauma.
As someone who is also mixed race, once I became a follower of Christ, I felt some sense of relief that there was a new freedom in my identity, but society seems to think otherwise at some moments. And, I agree, God has rescued my from the identity trap as well.
In your ministry role, how do you navigate identity traps and battles? And how do you keep boundaries set for yourself so you don’t fall into group think?
Thanks for your words and good question, Nancy. I think a gospel perspective is one that celebrates diversity and at the same time encourages “one-ness”. In the NT church the apostles worked to integrate Jews and Gentiles into the same church while still valuing their differences. Romans and Ephesians both speak to the need for unity and diversity.
I wonder as well if we were shaped more by life in the Trinity if we would not grasp the concept of unity and diversity.
Great post, Graham. What a journey you have been on! Thank you for sharing. This book has revealed many new aspects of our classmates. Several of the questions I wondered about as I read were asked by others in their comments to you. Having first-hand experience with identity traps (and being on the wrong side of the tracks, as we tend to say in Oklahoma), I want to ask you the same question you asked in my blog post.
What do you think Christian leaders can/should do to bridge the gap of an “us vs. them” mentality?
Shalom
Jennifer, it has been interesting to read the experiences and opinions of our classmates.
I think the “us vs. them” mentality stems from fear and lack of understanding. Modelling a posture of hospitality to people who are different or who share differing opinions is one of the ways to help people move out of that polarity. As well, creating opportunities for conversations with people so that we can hear from each other in a safe, non-judgemental space is helpful.
Graham, I appreciate how you shared your apprehension with the book and the story behind the apprehension. I understand how this material would strike a nerve. You mentioned at the end of your post that Mounk’s approach was good but limited. I agree that it is limited, but I am curious what you found to be good in his approach?
Chad, I think what I found good was the desire to see people integrated and treated with equal care, respect, honour etc. These “universal values” are probably more “Christian values” than he realizes. So, I echo his desire to see an equitable world, just, welcoming, loving etc. to all people regardless of race, sexual orientation etc. However, as Mary Sayers has said, “Secular Western society wants the kingdom without the King.” (Not a direct quote). The very thing he wants is actually only possible through Christ and his Kingdom.