The term “Woke” is the target of heated debate and condemnation on the part of those that fear it as an expression of a growing racial and cultural reality in America. Although the word was originally defined as an African American vernacular English meaning “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination,” it has grown to include other issues that describe social justice in the country.
The American Dialect Society named “Woke” as the slang word of the year in 2017. The term reached its zenith in popularity as an expression surrounding the Black Lives Matter Movement and the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Marshall McLuhan in his historic book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man ((1964) calls things affected by the media as going from cool to hot. The media has made “Woke” a hot” word.
This reminds me of “Aztlan,” a term that became “hot” as a result of the debate on Chicano national identity. What was an aspiration to connect with roots in the land was interpreted in the media as a threat to separate from the country. Governor Ron DeSantis in reaction to the popularity of “Woke” signed into law in 2022 the “Stop Woke Act” that “essentially prohibits instruction on race relations or diversity that imply a person’s status as either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, color, national origin or sex.” The Act seeks to deny history or revised it in a way that can lead to ignoring the very issues that challenge the nation today.
Other accompanying “anti-Woke” legislation includes Florida House Bill 1467 that bans books that are believed to have pornography or are “not suited to student needs.” This has led Duval County, Florida to ban 176 books that include stories of important historical figures like Roberto Clemente, Sonia Sotomayor and the Dreamers.
What originally was a quiet statement of caution in the face of racism and discrimination has become a hot topic of debate by the those who see themselves as oppressor and do not want to be reminded.
Ironically, the country has already moved passed that. Kenneth Boulding in his book The Image (1961) refers to a situation like the current one as the “break boundary at which the system suddenly changes into another or passes some point of no return in the dynamic process.” So as the African American novelist William Melvin Kelley in the title of an essay in the New York Times Magazine (1962) said, “If You’re Woke You Dig it.”
What is lost in the current national debate is that, first, “Woke” began as an expression of place and circumstance on the part of the Black community and has been here and growing to the point that the new Millennial majority is in the process of making it part of their own aspirational agenda. No legislation encouraged and signed by a potential candidate for the presidency of the United States is going to change that.
Second, “Woke” is about civil rights and the equal treatment of everyone. Those against it are actually hiding their anti-people of color campaign behind an attack on the term. “Woke” has become a word loaded with a variety of meanings. All however, go to the space provided for diversity and a place at the table for all Americans. What is disturbing is the lack of candor by attackers. It is more honest to say that they do not like what people of color bring to the table.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of la Voz bilingüe. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
