‘Woke’: A Misconception of a Remedy

Over the last two years, it feels as if the word ‘woke’ has been the narrative of our lives with everything that’s transpired in the world. Not only has it been a narrative, but it’s been a central point of polarization between Americans of differing political ideals, and it has quickly grown to be one of the most controversial topics in our nation. The term can be traced back to the 1940s, but the earliest sighting on record was when Black writer William Melvin Kelley put it to use for his New York Times article entitled: If You’re Woke You Dig It. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word woke means to be “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” By simply looking at this definition, I truly wonder how a concept or word asserted in conversation to promote morally sound objectives such as racial and social justice, is so upsetting to so many in this country?

In the wake of a torrent of mass shootings that have ravaged our nation, namely the ones that occurred in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, I decided to write my first two blog posts on the topic and surrounding issues of gun reform. Now it seems that the simple word “woke” is front and center and inspiring debates everywhere, and not surprisingly, has re-entered the world of politics. Those opposing the idea of ‘wokeness’ have massively mis-conceptualized it. The most notable and recent incident that caught my eye when it came across my phone screen the other day, involved one of America’s Senators, and I have been talking a lot about him in my articles. Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson, according to news outlet CNN stated that, “We [Americans] stopped teaching values in so many of our schools…Now we’re teaching wokeness, we’re indoctrinating our children with things like CRT, telling some children they’re not equal to others, and they’re the cause of other people’s problems.” Johnson was saying this for the purpose of asserting his own theory regarding in his mind, the possible reason and connection for the mass shooting in Uvalde. When asked about Critical Race Theory which is closely linked with the idea of being woke, Senator Johnson said, “I think CRT [Critical Race Theory] has been going on under the radar for quite some time as well…Wokeness has been. Liberal indoctrination has been. This is a much larger issue than what a simple new gun law is gonna—it’s not gonna solve it.”

Now before I move on, I just want to go over what Critical Race Theory is since it was looped in with ‘wokeness’ by Senator Johnson. According to Brittanica.com, CRT is an, “intellectual and social movement, and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour.”

Being ‘woke’ and adopting CRT, is a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines race and racism, by attempting to understand how cultural perceptions of race and victims of systemic racism, including breaking down the history and reasoning behind oppressive systems engrained in American life. To counter this, those involved in the area of social justice as their line of work, seek to affirm, support, and advocate for oppressed and marginalized groups of people within our society. The fierce battleground regarding curriculum in our schools is one I wish took place when I was a biracial child, and would have appreciated these aspects of teaching from a socially aware point of view from my teachers.

Only at a level of higher education have I been able to find those within the field of academics use these concepts to affirm me, my whole being, not just certain parts of who I am and how I am portrayed in the world.

How can a politician, a man whose purpose within his professional sphere is to serve the people, get up in the wake of 2  teachers and 19 innocent children slaughtered, in view of the public eye, the nation and the world, blame their deaths on concepts that were mobilized throughout recent decades to help those just like the victims reach their goals, dreams, and aspirations? Many of the children who perished in Uvalde were of Latinx descent. Those who are considered ‘woke’ and those who support CRT, strive for equity for these children—for all children like them. The connection is lost on me.

Instead of a so called ‘man of the people’ wasting time on blaming what is meant to aid those who struggle—what is meant to give a voice to the voiceless in this country, and instead of those on the left of the American political spectrum within the world of government giving apologies, prayer, and speeches, their needs to be concrete change. We don’t need to take away guns. Again, I feel as if I need a firearm to fend for myself, those that I love, and innocent bystanders around me, if need be, in the world I’m growing up in, but we do need to seriously regulate access to guns.

Do the research. I pointed it out in my last post, many countries that we deem “dangerous” have measures in place for their citizens to purchase and own firearms, and their numbers of mass shootings fall short of America’s, by the hundreds.

This week, sadly, there was a mass shooting at a church in Alabama. I can’t say how many articles that I’ve read bringing to light other shootings that have transpired around the nation in the two weeks since my last post. Technically, I would be considered ‘woke’ for writing on this topic since I’m demonstrating that I’m “actively attentive” to an “important” issue at hand, with the senseless violence transpiring in our country.  I don’t think this post is adding to the violence at all. In fact, my writing about and calling for actual action towards ending senseless violence, is exactly why Mr. Johnson feels the need to appeal to his political base, because the status quo is no longer acceptable to so many, including myself. I’m doing what he can’t if he wants to win another term. Empty rhetoric is no longer a guaranteed political win in the face of the alarming issues at hand. Fair warning Senator Johnson, I and many like me are too “woke” to stay silent!

Thanks for reading my post, no matter your position regarding what I write about, because our willingness to engage with each other may just enable an understanding of those that differ from us, and that is exactly what Senator Johnson fears the most.