Crisis of Character

Nothing speaks more profoundly to the crisis of character than the phrase, â??I identify asâ?¦â??. In the past, individuals were. â??I am a builder.â?? â??I am a mother.â?? â??I am a Jew.â?? There was a confidence, a certainty, to their sense of identity, and to their declaration of it. â??I am.â?? Today, individuals identify as something. â??I identify as working class.â?? â??I identify as non-binary.â?? Or, in the notorious case of Rachel Dolezal, the American white woman who effectively blacked-up as she rose up the ranks of the NAACP, â??I identify as blackâ??. The rise of the i-word in our definition of ourselves, the ascendancy of what is called â??self-identificationâ??, is one of the most notable developments of the 21st century so far. It speaks to a shift from being to passing through; from a clear sense of presence in the world to a feeling of transience; from identities that were rooted to identities that are tentative, insecure, questionable.