I agree wholeheartedly. I can safely say I've never used that word, and, no matter the context, I cringe now whenever I see it used.
You nailed it here. Its original meaning, sadly, has been lost. The Right Wing has co-opted it to mean something it doesn't. It has lost all effectiveness. It's a too-easy shorthand for legitimate concerns, which are now not spelled out in favor of that single word.
Thank you for this. I don't know what kind of feedback you'll get but just know I'm right there with you.
The term denotes being awake to the racial injustice and structures, and it is the racist rants of De Santis and the extreme right -- i.e., unfortunately, the controlling hoards of the Republican Party -- that will torment minorities with, "Florida is where "Woke" dies" goes hand in hand with "the immigrants are polluting our blood," with Nazi overtones.
Republicans will point out that they find it impolite to point to their racist slogans as having originated with Fascists and Nazis, and in fairness to the Republicans, it is not only the Fascists, but also the KKK and the Confederacy, with Vice President Alexander Stephens in his Cornerstone Speech of 12 March 1861, which built the Confederacy on the ideology of "racial inferiority" of the Africans. There were actually slave-holders who questioned whether their charges were fully human.
So, the Republicans are right to point out that their racism has origins other than that of Fascism and Nazism. One must be just to them.
Thank you Annabel for a thoughtful piece. i particularly agree with this statement: The word is also a dog whistle to the right. Why give them a convenient handle with which to mock and dismiss progressive values?
I am getting some push back on the FB thread. It is an interesting thread. The push back is centered on the idea of appropriation. With one guy objecting to the word “dog whistle”.
As of now nobody has taken on the issue of self identification and virtue signaling.
"Woke" is activist mysticism. Eric Vogelin called the problem "ersatz religion." It is the childlike idea that we can change reality by changing the meaning of words and alter the world through the magic of good intentions spoken with conviction. It is infantile, and moreover it is ultimately regressive, for it leads right back to every trope and stereotype our generation sought to abolish, concretizes them, and demands ideological conformity with all the self-righteous zeal of religious reactionaries.
I agree wholeheartedly. I can safely say I've never used that word, and, no matter the context, I cringe now whenever I see it used.
You nailed it here. Its original meaning, sadly, has been lost. The Right Wing has co-opted it to mean something it doesn't. It has lost all effectiveness. It's a too-easy shorthand for legitimate concerns, which are now not spelled out in favor of that single word.
Thank you for this. I don't know what kind of feedback you'll get but just know I'm right there with you.
Annabel Asher: Very well spoken.
The term denotes being awake to the racial injustice and structures, and it is the racist rants of De Santis and the extreme right -- i.e., unfortunately, the controlling hoards of the Republican Party -- that will torment minorities with, "Florida is where "Woke" dies" goes hand in hand with "the immigrants are polluting our blood," with Nazi overtones.
Republicans will point out that they find it impolite to point to their racist slogans as having originated with Fascists and Nazis, and in fairness to the Republicans, it is not only the Fascists, but also the KKK and the Confederacy, with Vice President Alexander Stephens in his Cornerstone Speech of 12 March 1861, which built the Confederacy on the ideology of "racial inferiority" of the Africans. There were actually slave-holders who questioned whether their charges were fully human.
So, the Republicans are right to point out that their racism has origins other than that of Fascism and Nazism. One must be just to them.
Thank you Annabel for a thoughtful piece. i particularly agree with this statement: The word is also a dog whistle to the right. Why give them a convenient handle with which to mock and dismiss progressive values?
I am getting some push back on the FB thread. It is an interesting thread. The push back is centered on the idea of appropriation. With one guy objecting to the word “dog whistle”.
As of now nobody has taken on the issue of self identification and virtue signaling.
"Woke" is activist mysticism. Eric Vogelin called the problem "ersatz religion." It is the childlike idea that we can change reality by changing the meaning of words and alter the world through the magic of good intentions spoken with conviction. It is infantile, and moreover it is ultimately regressive, for it leads right back to every trope and stereotype our generation sought to abolish, concretizes them, and demands ideological conformity with all the self-righteous zeal of religious reactionaries.