In The New Civil Rights Kenji Yoshino makes several observations about identity and how we should view it. Yoshino’s central point of his essay revolves around the ideas of the True and False selves, popularized by D. W. Winnicott. The idea behind the True and False selves is that the True self is someone’s real personality that is covered up by the False self, an inauthentic presentation that people put forth which acts protection for the True self from the world. One of the key points Yoshino emphasizes is that despite its appearance of being “fake” and therefor inferior, the False self is vital for the survival of the True self. Without the False self that presents a more palatable form of someone’s personality as protection, society would attack the True self relentlessly. Yoshino’s other main point involving identity is his conclusion that it is better for minority groups to advocate for freedom than to advocate for civil rights. Yoshino came to this idea after witnessing cases in the supreme court that appealed to civil rights for one group be struck down, while cases for more individual freedoms for everyone were held up by the court. Yoshino reasons that this is because civil rights cases may have the supreme court seem like they are picking favorites while cases for more freedoms is something that appeals to all Americans.
Yoshino’s essay has a more practical view on self-expression than the often seen “be loud and proud” idea. Yoshino is able rationalize that the best way for someone to keep their true personality intact is to hide it until society becomes more accepting. But because true personality needs to be kept under wraps, there is little in the way for someone to practice self-expression. This point works in conjunction alongside Yoshino’s belief that it is better to advocate for more freedom for everyone rather than civil rights for groups with unorthodox personalities. These two observations by Yoshino in his essay leads to the conclusion that he believes true self-expression is both harder than it is made out to be and presents a more hostile environment for the individual.
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