I'm a Black pastor alarmed by a new identity game some on the right are playing

Some on the right are pivoting to 'Black fatigue' and tribal thinking about Black Americans. But tribalism is a crutch, a cheap shot that fuels keyboard wars on X but fixes nothing.

My work is with kids—each one is a distinct soul, not a racial statistic. No two Blacks, no two anyone, are alike. Lifting them up means igniting their personal fire, not boxing them into a racial narrative. Pastor Corey Brooks, known as the "Rooftop Pastor," is the founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and the CEO of Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), the church's local mission. He gained national attention for his 94-day and 343-day rooftop vigils to transform the notorious "O-Block," once known as Chicago's most dangerous block, into #OpportunityBlock. Learn more at ProjectHOOD.org.

Instead of doubling down on the American creed of individualism, this faction swung hard into collectivism, painting Blacks as a singular problem with the same tired tribal brush they once scorned.

Now, some on the right are leaning into posts like this one from Evan Kilgore on X, who wrote: "Why are black people so disproportionately violent? Why do they threaten or act with violence the second they are offended or inconvenienced? Seriously…why are so many black people like this?"