20 Examples That Show What Woke Is
The term 'woke' may be out of style, but we know it when we see it
A few years ago there was a Very Online®️ debate about the definition of “woke.” I wrote this in response because, at the time, I was confident that we all knew “woke” when we see it. But, much has changed since then.
The term “woke” is now overused and cringe, mostly due to people applying it to people and situations that aren’t “woke.”
Example: It isn’t “woke” to say workplace discrimination is real and bad, or calling people fat is mean.
I instead say “social justice fundamentalism”. SJF is a mouthful, but it more accurately describes the behavior by adding '“fundamentalism.”
There are liberals and Democrats who don’t think lighting buildings on fire does anything to fight racism or that Israel is a settler colonial project. And, I don’t think all of their beliefs should be called “woke.”
Nevertheless, there are social justice fundamentalists who truly believe America is rotten to the core, and their terrible ideas should be called what they are…terrible.
Give this a read.
Recently, news outlets, including Vice News and The Atlantic, have purported that no one can define “woke.” I’m sympathetic to the argument that the word “woke” does little to persuade those who may not already be right of center or conservative. But, hand-wringing over woke’s definition, or lack thereof, doesn’t disprove that wokeism is alive and well and a societal problem.
Below are 20 examples of what woke is.
Woke is Stanford Law students, slated to make $200,000 per year upon graduation, screaming at a federal judge and making comments like “He can’t find the cl*t.”
Woke is BLM rioters burning cities and looting private businesses as a form of “peaceful protest.”
Woke is repurposing Nazi rhetoric for left-wing antisemitism and calling it “activism.”
Woke is a professor walking out of a lecture in a neck brace because students at a prestigious university can’t handle viewpoint diversity.
Woke is GoFundMe arbitrarily shutting down a fundraiser by working-class Canadian truckers, many of whom are ethnic minorities.
Woke is the American Federation of Teachers passing a BLM resolution while doing sorry little to address record-low reading and math scores.
Woke is labeling successful people, who happen to be minorities, as “model minorities.”
Woke is immigrating to the richest, most prosperous country in the free world, getting elected to U.S. Congress, and believing the U.S. inculcates a “system of oppression.”
Woke is labeling “written language” and “math” as “white supremacy.”
Woke is being from a leafy Connecticut suburb and screaming at your Yale faculty because you think you are oppressed.
Woke is physically assaulting and stealing from an elderly bakery owner in a college town and then tarring him as a racist.
Woke is calling 69 million Americans “racist” because you disagree with them.
Woke is sending your kids to private schools but denying other, economically-disadvantaged kids, that same opportunity.
Woke is conflating “all people are created equal” with everyone being the same and forcing upon people the same outcomes.
Woke is labeling people based on fixed traits like sex or skin color.
Woke is illegally giving minor children puberty blockers.
Woke is mandatory corporate struggle sessions during which employees are castigated for being white, male, or worse yet, both.
Woke is lowering standards in the United States military, one of our last meritocracies, in the name of “equity.”
Woke is disdain for the American working class, most especially those in the Midwest and South.
Woke is denying that these examples are woke because the truth will depose you from your self-appointed bully pulpit.
I wrote this when I was a Visiting Fellow with Independent Women’s Forum. You check out more of my work there.
If you enjoyed this, then check out…
How Leftists’ Critical Race Theory Poisons Our Discussion of Racism
Critical race theory aims to upend the civic order
Wearing Masks At Protests Abdicates Responsibility. And That’s The Point
Author’s Note: You may have discovered my work through my posts about France—welcome!
A little about myself and what you’ll find here; I’m an American Jew living in Paris, and my writing explores topics such as free markets and regulation, culture, Judaism, and a bit about life in France. I hope you’ll stay and enjoy this journey with me.
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