Please stop this ‘woke’ nonsense
I suppose 鈥渨oke鈥� is now a dirty word.
For the better part of a century, the word, 鈥渨oke,鈥� hadn鈥檛 harmed anybody.
It had long been a bit of African American vernacular which meant alert, or aware of racial and social injustices.
That鈥檚 all.
Somehow, folks on the political right, have decided to redefine the word 鈥渨oke鈥� by forcefully engaging in some sort of verbal gentrification.
Now 鈥渨oke鈥� means whatever the particular right-winger says it is. And not what the people who originated the slang term meant.
We鈥檝e seen this stuff before.
Critical Race Theory has nothing to do with what right-wingers say it is.
They鈥檒l just run their political campaigns, swearing in every speech that they鈥檒l keep 5-year-olds safe from college professors demanding they pay reparations during their recesses, with what they claim Critical Race Theory means.
Commandeering the words 鈥渨oke鈥� (and 鈥渨okeness鈥�) for political purposes has become the latest, nonsensical right-wing call to arms.
Down in Florida, the governor takes delight in incorporating the word 鈥渨oke鈥� into every speech he makes.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be happy when he blurts out, 鈥淔lorida is where woke goes to die.鈥�
That earns him enthusiastic applause from people who may have no idea what 鈥渨oke鈥� even means. They鈥檙e being spoon-fed irrelevant nonsense.
But relevance never stands in the way of well-placed political cheap shots.
There are all kinds of ways 鈥渨oke鈥� causes right-wingers to seek the abolition of stuff. That list grows daily.
Last week, the House Oversight Chairman, James Comer (R-Ky.), claimed that collapsed bank 鈥� Silicon Valley Bank 鈥� was one of 鈥渢he most 鈥榳oke鈥� banks.鈥�
People are scratching their heads at that description.
Nor are they convinced, when Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) proclaims about that bank, 鈥淪VB = too woke to fail.鈥�
Too 鈥渨oke鈥� to what?
A recent USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll found that most Americans (56%) believe the term 鈥渨oke鈥� means 鈥渢o be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices.鈥�
However, 56% of the Republicans surveyed believe the term 鈥渨oke鈥� means overly politically correct.
I think that if people believe 鈥渨okeness鈥� is open to a variety of interpretations, then subjects should be ranked for their levels of 鈥渨oke.鈥� On a 鈥渨oke鈥� scale between 1 and 10, I鈥檇 say Silicon Valley Bank is a minus 2,000. Mainly because banks can鈥檛 be 鈥渨oke.鈥�
They鈥檙e banks!
I鈥檝e noticed there are increasing numbers of folks on the left finally asking people who toss the word 鈥渨oke鈥� around what it means.
So far, I鈥檝e not seen anybody define it the way it was meant to be.
Conservative columnist Bethany Mandel appeared on The Hill TV last week, and she casually threw out the word 鈥渨oke鈥� to describe certain Americans.
The interviewer, Briahna Joy Gray, stopped her, and asked, 鈥淲ould you mind defining 鈥渨oke? It鈥檚 come up a couple of times. I just want to make sure we鈥檙e on the same page.鈥�
At that point, Mandel embarked on what appeared to be a never-ending rhetorical journey. 鈥淪o, I mean, woke is, sort of the idea that, um, ah, I, this is going to be one of those moments that goes viral, I mean, woke is something very hard to define, and we鈥檝e spent an entire chapter defining it.鈥� (NOTE: I defined it above. It鈥檚 always meant alert and aware of racial and social injustices.)
But Mandel has never cared to seek out the true meaning of the word. She, like many folks on the right, would prefer to make up meanings as they go along.
So, she continued, 鈥淚t is sort of the understanding that we need to totally reimagine, and redo society in order to create hierarchies of oppression. So, I, it鈥檚 hard to explain in a 15-second sound bite.鈥�
But that hadn鈥檛 been a 15-second soundbite. She鈥檇 been given as much time as she鈥檇 like, but she still couldn鈥檛 come up with a coherent definition of the word.
So, beware of the folks throwing around the word 鈥渨oke.鈥�
They may not know what it means. But they don鈥檛 even care.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.