Are You Woke?

Do you even know what the word means? Is it part of your everyday vocabulary? If you use it, does it mean the same thing as when it is used by some right-wing TV commentator or a progressive newscaster? I wasn’t certain, so I did some digging around to learn the origin of the word. Of course, it is a variation of the word “awake”, such as the sleepy man awakened or he woke up in the traditional sense of the word.

But, over time, the colloquial use of the word has changed. In the New Yorker podcast by David Remnick, he discussed these origins with a linguist from the UK, Tony Thorne, who wrote The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, and with some locally polled residents. Most thought it meant that the listener should be aware or put themselves on alert.

The Urban Dictionary defines Woke as being aware of current social issues or understanding the need to wake up. Others have defined Woke as arising out of the Black Lives Matter movement, noting the need to be aware of the issue of Social Justice. Some saw its’ use as a warning to be aware. Others noted its current use as a polemic. Some saw it as silly, a word with no real meaning. Progressives felt it was a word they once used whose meaning was co-opted by the right. Progressives believed being woke meant that one cared about the rights of others and inequities in our society, to mention a few issues.

But, as Thorne noted, a word that was once common to the Black or Southern community in a colloquial sense was changed intentionally to a pejorative word. He traced the modern use to a song in 2008 where woke was used in the chorus of Master Teacher by a Black female singer urging others to stay aware. Around 2014, the Black Lives Matter Movement started using the phrase after Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson. Even then the use was positive, connoting empathy and social awareness.

More recently, the right has twisted the word into a negative. To “Be Woke” is now a negative slur. Just as “cancel culture” and the Potato Head doll dominated conservative talk shows for a while, woke is now on the agenda. It, however, seems to have a greater staying power than the other crusades broadly shared over the years. Do you remember the Barney is Gay campaign or the attack on mothballing some Dr.Suess books? Right-wing commentators and pundits are all over this wokeness stuff. Gee, one would almost think it is a genuine issue! Political consultant James Carville recently was quoted about this topic in the Washington Post: “Few people can define woke but, due to propaganda, many are against it. For many, “woke” represents cultural resentment, and it is a shortcut for social elitism.

The article added: To him, the deployment of “woke” as a political attack represents the culture wars of previous eras — the latest version of dismissing coastal elites as chardonnay-swilling, latte-sipping liberals.

“It used to be that [Republicans] were kind of free traders and anti-Russia and pro-military and for entitlement reform,” Carville said. “Well, that’s all out the window. The only thing they have that unifies them is cultural resentment — ‘Let’s all attack the trans kid’ or ‘We shouldn’t tell seventh graders there are gay people because then they’ll never know.’”

 

Republican Governor De Santis of Florida recently promoted his “Anti-woke Campaign” along with his “Don’t Say Gay” campaign as he attempts to turn Florida into a totalitarian state. Not content to mess with elementary school curricula, school board membership, and library censoring, he is now turning to micro-managing college curricula. The decision by the AP college prep course team to change the Black history module for High School teaching after his criticism brought widespread condemnation when it appeared that De Santis drove this decision. Recently, some Florida college students marched in the streets to challenge moves the governor made in the governance of colleges and universities in the state and in issues for LBGTQ or trans students and civil rights history courses or those dealing with diversity, equity, and inclusion. Doesn’t that make one wonder just what is it about diversity, equity, and inclusion that frightens the governor so much? If we don’t teach history, will it go away? Already we have Congresswoman Greene showing that she doesn’t understand our Constitution or our history, and other Republicans not understanding the practices of governmental agencies. What can be next?

Thorne also discussed the weaponization of words. This is a tactic used effectively by the master of the dark side, Steve Bannon, in his several attempts to influence thought. Bannon does not simply use a word negatively, he uses it in such a manner that the opponent can have no valid rejoinder. He used words for full-scale destruction and to demonstrate overwhelming obliteration. Thorne discussed such concepts as contentious language, toxic terminology, and full-scale weaponization in propaganda wars. So when De Santis and other Republicans throw around the word woke, they are not just attacking a word; they are scatter-shooting any and everything that they have associated with that word. Issues such as social justice, inequality in employment, housing, and education, the history of Black people in America, and the era of Jim Crow. De Santis would not teach other truths such as the uneven American history of immigration and minorities in his Florida schools. For the mid-terms, school board memberships, and book banning were huge topics of wokeness as were the bogus bogeymen, CRT theories, and the 1619 project. It is easy to see how an ill-defined word such as “Woke” can be twisted to stand for good or bad and can be used for propaganda so swiftly. It sorta makes one think of Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, doesn’t it? Goodreads has a quote:

He said: “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”

According to a column in the New York Times, Charles Blow reports De Santis is also trying to pit different ethnic groups against each other. As he says, De Santis is attacking marginalized groups on issues where they have divisions. It is no secret that all Hispanics do not think alike. Cubans who identify as white might not identify with poor Haitians or immigrants from Venezuela, even though some might have common afro-Hispanic roots. According to his practices of divide and conquer, conservative Black populations, who traditionally vote for Democrats, might be encouraged to shun members of the gay or trans communities and support Republicans who have the same beliefs.

So where do we go from here? As a progressive, I try to stay abreast of contemporary issues. I am aware of social issues and injustices, so I guess I have wokeness in the traditional sense. But, I am quite concerned at the use of social media and propaganda to flip the meaning of a word to cover up inequities and attempts at erasing Black history, and social engineering in our schools, workplaces, and public forums. Because of white flight, many urban schools that were desegregated in the 80s are again segregated. Will these schools again fall into the second-class education once seen in all-black schools? Whose job is it to educate these students? A governor should govern his or her state for all the population. (And in Virginia, the move to make female students report their menstrual history is scary; I do not know what to make of it. Does the Republican governor think he can smoke out secret trans students, find hidden pregnancies, or teens with aberrant hormones? Does he not know that some female athletes stop having periods when they train diligently?) What good purpose can be served by this move? And Youngkin thinks he should be president?

The right claims that steps President Biden is taking as he tries to make our government look like America is wokeness. Toward that goal, he has appointed more women judges and has a more diverse Cabinet and government than any predecessor. Is writing wrongs from the past such a bad thing?

Some other points from the news this week:

To mark the importance of American support for the Ukrainians on the first anniversary of this war, President Biden went secretly to Kyiv and strolled in the square with President Zelensky to demonstrate this solidarity. A brave move, done well.

After a shooting at Michigan State University this month, we learned that, for a few students, this was not their first school shooting. One student had been at Sandy Hook Elementary, another at Oxford HS. Can someone tell me again just why we are continuing to kill our students? Even now, some states are trying to either work around or not enforce the bare minimum national laws that were passed for gun safety last year.

Former President Jimmy Carter entered Hospice at Home as he nears the end of his life at 98 years old. My thoughts are with him and his family. He has lived a very long life well; more should follow his example.

'Til next week - Peace!