After their massive defeat in the 2016 U.S. national elections, there’s been a lot of re-examination and re-evaluation by the left in regards to their political strategy and approach — they know that something isn’t working, but can’t quite articulate what’s really broken or why things haven’t been going their way as of the late. But there is a simple explanation for this: identity politics is no longer relevant in today’s political climate.

There are 3 main problems with identity politics in general:

1) By focusing on identity you’re creating divisions among groups that would otherwise be united by common ideologies and causes. While identity politics is often done under the guise of multiculturalism or diversity, by focusing on people’s differences rather than similarities it hinders interaction among groups that would otherwise be forming stronger political alliances with one another.

2) Contrary to the perception of the existing left, most minorities aren’t particularly excited or appreciative of identity-based initiatives because its models are often built around stereotypes that white people have about certain cultures, good and bad. Even if there are some benefits to be gotten from these programs, having to play into others’ caricatures about your race doesn’t leave you with a sense of dignity.

3) Identity politics is particularly damaging for minority-white relations because it focuses on things that you have no control over — ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation — leading to predetermined outcomes and contexts where compromise is no longer possible. This makes it very difficult to appeal to moderate and independent voters, who are looking for real messages of hope and change.

From the very beginning, the right has questioned Obama’s presidency as being nothing more than a power-play in affirmative action — they would claim that you were voting for him only because of the novelty of having a black man in the White House. This may have been partially true because I’m sure there were some who voted for him solely for that reason. But Obama’s strength was that he managed to convince moderates and minorities that he had a grander, universal vision of the world, giving them a sense of hope that was both genuine and realistic. Had things been a little different, he may have even been able broaden his reach to those on the right, but the ongoing battles over identity politics made this more or less an impossibility.

For what it’s worth, none of these developments are anyone’s fault in particular — identity politics is very much engrained in our culture because it exists as a result of hyper-targeted marketing practices that have been heavily in use in recent years. We’ve gotten so used to having our every whim catered that we’ve blinded ourselves to the perspectives and experiences that exist outside of the prepackaged narratives that we consume both in the media and online.

My hope is that the political left will take a hard look at the beliefs and processes that lead to those beliefs in recent years, and re-examine them in a way that would allow them to make real progress going forward. Having a more civil society aside, it’s in their own interest to do so — lest they keep on losing in elections, year after year, without knowing why.