Woke — and Proud of It

Enough. Enough already! The ‘anti-woke’ fervor and hysteria in the U.S. has gotten way, way out of hand. It’s spreading like a deadly mutant fungus and taking over our nation, closely paralleling the grim sci-fi hellscape of “The Last of Us.”

I, for one, have had enough. I’ve seen and heard enough hateful ‘anti-woke’ nonsense to last several lifetimes. At this point, my astonishment at the intensity of ‘anti-woke’ hysteria has faded, but now I’m left with a simple question: What the heck is so wrong and bad about being ‘woke’?

The crazed excesses of the ‘anti-woke’ mob

Answering my question requires some crucial clarification(s). After all, what do we even mean when we use the term ‘woke’? By now, it’s crystal clear that MAGA, Trump, and the GOP use the term only in a derogatory and mean-spirited way. And the way they use it is intentionally inflammatory and divisive.

Sadly, conservatives latched onto a few excesses among progressives — such as an overemphasis on ‘correct pronouns’ or support for all illegal immigrants. Then, they totally overreacted… and threw the baby out with the bathwater. They chose to mock and disparage all ‘wokeness’ — social awareness — to the point that the essence of ‘wokeness’ has been turned upside-down and twisted beyond all recognition.

The far right has successfully turned ‘wokeness’ into a ridiculous and dangerous caricature — and line of attack. Now, even the Kennedy Center honors are too ‘woke’! The Smithsonian Museums are all too ‘woke’ (that is, historically accurate). Laws that protect minorities and their voting rights are now too ‘woke.’ Anything resembling ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ is way too ‘woke’! And defending women’s right to choose and their families’ right to family planning is now… horribly ‘woke.’

All social conscience must be ruthlessly suppressed

Oh, I forgot: even the name ‘Kennedy Center’ was deemed ‘unacceptably woke,’ since it honors a liberal Democrat, JFK. Plus, our resident woke-hater-in-chief, DJT, lusted for the prestige associated with the Kennedy Center — and decided to take it over. He fired the board, made himself the head honcho, and plans to rename it — possibly as the Melania Trump Center. Or maybe the Donald J. Trump Center. Shudder.

It gets worse. Even the society-wide effort to finally rid ourselves of statues and military bases honoring Confederate ‘heroes’ (traitors) has come under intense fire. In Texas, Fort Hood was renamed Fort Cavazos to honor a brilliant Hispanic general — and that led to a huge backlash since it was doubly ‘woke.’

That is, the Army got rid of the Confederate name and replaced it with a (horrors!) Hispanic name. That was totally intolerable to the GOP — so they refused to honor Cavazos and pressured the Army to reverse course. Acting together, they brazenly stripped away his name, and the base then reverted to the original name ‘Fort Hood.’

Like I said: the ‘anti-woke’ hysteria in the U.S. has gotten way, way out of hand.

The right’s sneak attack on ‘equality and justice for all’

Here’s another crucial question: what, exactly, is the right so upset about? Why are they so opposed to any form of ‘wokeness’?

I hate to say it, but it’s evident that the far right and almost the entire GOP are strongly opposed to racial fairness, increasing equity, and inclusivity. They are firmly in the racist, White supremacist camp, but don’t want to come right out and praise and promote racism.

No, they can’t appear to be heavily racist… but still want and ‘need’ to push a racist, White-centered agenda.

So — what to do? My take on the (hateful) right-wing thought process looks something like this:

“Hey, here’s a perfect solution… a fabulous scapegoat, really. Let’s go after ‘wokeness,’ attack it mercilessly, exaggerate it, and turn it into a caricature. Let’s cynically use ‘wokeness’ as a battering ram against minorities, liberals, progressives, and left-leaning women. Yes, indeed, it’s a wonderful ‘twofer’: we get to attack and take down the ‘libs’ and greedy minorities and also slyly support more racism, oppression, and inter-racial conflict! Yeah, baby!”

It’s been a golden opportunity for the right and the GOP — one they’ve embraced and pursued with gusto.

The true, original meaning of ‘woke’

OK. Ugh. After that foray into depraved rightwing BS, let’s look at the real meaning of ‘woke.’ Of course, being ‘woke’ implies being awake and aware — and this was its original (still applicable) meaning. It originated as an expression in the Black community that emphasized awareness of deep cultural imbalances and ongoing racist practices. It sought to raise awareness about structural racism and Blacks’ (and later, Hispanics’) struggle for racial parity and economic equity.

In other words, being ‘woke’ meant being aware of real, active societal trends and forces that oppress or persecute non-Whites. It was simply a natural, intelligent social response to overt or subtle oppression. Then, over time, many ideas subsumed under the banner of ‘wokeness’ spread into the wider society and became cornerstones of the civil rights movement — something the far right has always hated and vowed to reverse. (As we all know, over the past decade, they’ve grabbed their golden opportunity and run with it.)

But if we think about the deeper symbolism of ‘woke’ vs. ‘anti-woke,’ it’s clear that the far right and today’s GOP do not support liberal democracy or the social and philosophical ideals of the Enlightenment. Our representative democracy sought to incorporate Enlightenment ideals like rationality, individual freedom, equality, and the separation of church and state. Over the last 70 years, the U.S. made some (a few) significant inroads into actually achieving these goals — until the last 15 years or so.

Since the presidency (2009–2017) of Barack Obama — the nation’s first and only Black president — our nation’s racists, White supremacists, and Christian nationalists have gone apeshit. They are furious about increasing equality, racial diversity, and inclusiveness (that is, about most Enlightenment ideals) and are now determined foes of liberal democracy. That’s the underlying rationale behind the fierce right-wing attacks on DEI.

It must be said, without any exaggeration: they intentionally promote (overtly or covertly) ‘endarkenment’ and racist hate. Imagine: they actually prefer — and insist on — increased racism, misogyny, oppression of minorities, and oppression of LGBTQ+ folks. They love their racism, misogyny, and hatred, and do not want to let it go or help heal our society.

The ultimate choice: openness and love vs. fear, anger, and hate

In the bluntest psychological and psycho-social terms, the ‘anti-woke’ mob rejects open-minded, inclusive, compassionate, and loving states of being. Instead, they foster and cling to the opposite.

Sadly — horrifyingly — they willfully choose to be closed-minded, mean-spirited, racist, and hateful, and thus choose an emotionally destructive, contracted state of mind and heart (that’s also incredibly destructive socially).

Hmm… really?! In terms of overall human happiness and fulfillment, which sounds better: living an expansive, inclusive, compassionate, and loving life, OR ‘living’ in a shrunken, contracted state of closed-minded, violence-prone, racist hate?

To me, this isn’t even a choice. Who in their right mind would ever choose a shrunken, ugly, hate-filled life? Yet, amazingly, tens of millions of modern ‘civilized’ Americans are choosing exactly that.

I’m sorry, but this is just nuts! C-r-a-z-y, and ever crazier. It’s an insane and highly destructive choice. In reality — you know, the world and life we actually inhabit — the healthy, healing choice is clear. In every possible way, being ‘woke’ (in its original meaning) is far superior to being stubbornly ‘anti-woke.’

S0 — Hell, yeah! I support being awake, aware, and ‘woke’ anytime, anywhere! I’m definitely ‘woke’ — and proud of it.