FoxNews provides a very thorough history and definition of the term “woke” and the development of woke culture. The term itself emerged in a 1962 New York Times piece about beatniks and the impact jazz had on American culture. According to FoxNews, Merriam-Webster now defines “woke” as "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”.
The term has evolved since 1962 and has recently been linked to the Black Lives Matter movement and has also become entwined with “cancel culture”, the notion that people may be “canceled” after they say something insensitive or not “woke”.
I’m trying to determine whether I’m woke:
Black Lives Matter. Yes, I believe all lives are important and precious, but blacks are statistically almost three times more likely to be killed by police than are whites. Further, police are 20% more likely to stop black drivers than whites. And, when blacks are stopped they are 1.5-2 times more likely to be searched although, according to data based on 100 million traffic stops, black drivers are less likely to actually possess drugs, guns, or other illegal items. Interestingly, blacks are also less likely to be pulled over at night when police have more trouble identifying the driver’s ethnicity. So yes, I support any group that is being treated differently because of ethnicity, gender, religion, or other characteristic.
Gender Equality. Back in 2017, prior to taking a four-year break from writing this blog, I posted this piece on gender equality. Things for women have not changed significantly for the better since 2017, and when taking lost abortion rights into consideration, women have actually lost ground. American women still earn 83% of men’s salaries, less than 25% of Congress is female although women comprise 51% of the population, men tend to receive higher salaries and raises than women doing the same job, women are promoted less often than men, only 20% of CEO’s are female, women are more likely to live and die in poverty than men, and women are more likely victims of harassment and abuse than men. So again, I support gender equality and measures intended to support it.
Me Too: Related to gender equality, I support the “Me Too” movement. Sexual harassment and intimidation of any sort are unacceptable. When I was a naive 17-year-old a man tried to force himself on me (unsuccessfully), and I was ashamed to tell anyone for many years. I am sure there are instances when women fabricate stories of assault and/or harassment, but I tend to believe such instances are very rare because women coming forward to report harassment are putting their lives on public display. I’m confident their reports are almost always true, and nobody should worry about being sexually harassed or attacked.
Marriage Equality. I sometimes perform civil marriage ceremonies for couples, most often former students, and I’m proud to say that I’ve happily done so for same sex couples. The government and society have no right deciding who may love whom. I know same sex couples who are MUCH better parents than other “traditional” couples.
Banning Books. Where are we? Nazi Germany? Many books I was assigned in high school or junior high are now being banned by some school districts. Lord of the Flies gave me nightmares, but it also changed my world view in important ways. Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm taught me about totalitarian government. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye was my first exposure to concepts such as alienation and lost innocence. And, by the way, I also support teaching REAL history in schools because students need to learn the truth about slavery and America’s winding path toward achieving Jefferson’s first self-evident truth (equality). We can only achieve that goal by acknowledging and erasing existing inequality. Also, I recall being a teenager and being told the things I couldn’t do and how determined I was to do them anyway (sorry, Mom). Kids have easy access to banned books on their phones, tablets, and computers, and when they are told to not read something that will be the first thing many will want to read.
Confederate Monuments. Several years ago I wrote this piece arguing that Confederate monuments should come down. Slavery is a disgraceful part of American history, and we should not memorialize or celebrate those who fought to protect it. I was really proud of my home state of Mississippi for finally removing the Confederate flag from the state flag.
BUT WAIT!!
I also disagree with the aspect of “cancel culture” that keeps controversial speakers off college campuses. The only speakers who should be banned are those openly advocating violence or harm to others OR advocating the violent overthrow of government. I loved almost every class I took in school (OK…I hated Algebra), but being exposed to very liberal AND very conservative speakers was equally valuable.
I know that as a white man I have privileges unavailable to others, but that doesn’t justify forcing me and others to feel guilty. All that does is push some people to adopt more extreme sexist and racist views. The real solution is confronting inequality at every turn and finding ways to change it. We should also find ways to sensitize and educate those of us with privilege so that we become part of the solution rather than helping maintain the problem.
I don’t believe in banning people from social media just because they support controversial opinions, although in a capitalist society a private company such as Meta may choose to do so. We all have the option of blocking objectionable ideas or people on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms (I have a black belt in unfriending and blocking). However, as stated above, people should not be permitted to publish ideas that advocate directly harming others or the country such as advocating violent revolution.
I disagree with the “defund the police” movement. I do support “reform the police” movements and attempts to demilitarize municipal police (do they really need tanks?), but I’ve taught hundreds (possibly thousands) of students who went on to become police officers, and with few exceptions they were outstanding people who deserve respect and adequate compensation. I do believe good cops should be more vocal in condemning bad cops, but in most professions people tend to protect their own; good teachers rarely condemn crappy ones and teachers unions protect them, good doctors rarely testify against incompetent ones, good religious leaders rarely speak out against immoral or unethical ones, etc.
Well, I’m still not certain whether I’m “woke”.
The problem is that such terms as “woke”, “snowflake”, “coastal elites”, “wacko”, “libtard”, “nutjob”, “knuckle dragger”, PC”, and other similar perceived insults really do not explain or define political reality. In fact, traditional terms such as “liberal” and “conservative” no longer adequately characterize people’s political beliefs, but that’s a topic for another day.
Am I “woke”?
PS: Once again, if there is a “pledge your support” button on this page please ignore it. I’m not trying to take your money.
I agree with everything you say here....so according to this, I am "woke."