Most identities are fundamentally category headings that simplify and organize consciousness.
In Buddhist terms, identity is empty.
Being empty does not mean identity does not arouse strong instincts.
Strong instincts arising based on identity are the poison fruits of delusion.
In this world where so many strive to have fierce identities, you have to be careful.
Though you do not need an identity yourself, you do have to be mindful of what others may do with their identities.
Identity politics is an inevitable result of many people striving to take on the same identity. Like identity itself, identity politics simplifies consciousness and arouses strong feeling.
Many people who have strong identities—be they individual or group oriented—conceal motives based on their identities, which they may also conceal in whole or in part.
This is the very nature of delusion and a major basis for understanding the First Noble Truth, the truth of suffering.
American Buddhist Net 