adjective; ˈwōk , chiefly US slang: aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).
This is the actual meaning of the word as it was first used some years ago. It does not mean making white people feel guilty about the past. It does not have anything to do with late term abortions or "killing babies" (neither of which are actually happening). It does not have to do with teaching Critical Race Theory in public schools (another thing which is not happening). It's not about trying to turn children gay or trans (yet another thing that's not happening). It is nothing that the political right says it is. Despite what Ron DeSantis, Trump and the right wing media would have you believe, being "woke" is benign and actually what every American should want to be: aware of what is going on around them.
It's a sad fact that as time goes on, people tend to forget the past. It only takes one generation before, unless they are reminded of it, young people lose touch with the mistakes and evils of even recently bygone times. Things like slavery, Nazism, the KKK, white supremacy, anti-Semitism, gay bashing and other social aberrations lose their perspective and some people fall back into the old dysfunctional behaviour that plagued this country for centuries. Sometimes they're even reinforced by parents and peers who haven't yet shed their animosity toward people who are different from them. Lately there has been a concerted effort by right wing politicians and media to use these differences to cause distrust and hatred between different social groups in order to gain and keep power. It's the old "divide and conquer" routine where they brand the opposition as "others" in order to make them look evil.
....so lies are told, situations are exaggerated and conspiracy theories formulated for this purpose. People predisposed to these lies tend to cling to them and share them among their friends and family. Right wing media whips up a frenzy of hatred and distrust to be fed to their viewers on a daily basis and now social media helps to divide people as well....never understanding (or caring about?) the great damage they're doing to America.
This is what wokeness tries to combat...and why the right hates it so much. Because informed and aware people are harder to control. Because forgetting the past makes people less likely to question the present so we don't repeat it.
So yeah, i am "woke" in the classic sense...maybe more people ought to be.
It's a sad fact that as time goes on, people tend to forget the past. It only takes one generation before, unless they are reminded of it, young people lose touch with the mistakes and evils of even recently bygone times. Things like slavery, Nazism, the KKK, white supremacy, anti-Semitism, gay bashing and other social aberrations lose their perspective and some people fall back into the old dysfunctional behaviour that plagued this country for centuries. Sometimes they're even reinforced by parents and peers who haven't yet shed their animosity toward people who are different from them. Lately there has been a concerted effort by right wing politicians and media to use these differences to cause distrust and hatred between different social groups in order to gain and keep power. It's the old "divide and conquer" routine where they brand the opposition as "others" in order to make them look evil.
....so lies are told, situations are exaggerated and conspiracy theories formulated for this purpose. People predisposed to these lies tend to cling to them and share them among their friends and family. Right wing media whips up a frenzy of hatred and distrust to be fed to their viewers on a daily basis and now social media helps to divide people as well....never understanding (or caring about?) the great damage they're doing to America.
This is what wokeness tries to combat...and why the right hates it so much. Because informed and aware people are harder to control. Because forgetting the past makes people less likely to question the present so we don't repeat it.
So yeah, i am "woke" in the classic sense...maybe more people ought to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment