Steve Beschloss: Embracing the Woke

[Nevilledog]

https://america.substack.com/p/embracing-the-woke

Every time I hear the word “woke” used as a pejorative weapon, I wish it were just a joke. How is compassion, empathy and care for racial and social justice not something to embrace?

This week the Florida state legislature is expanding its attacks on “critical race theory,” gender studies, sexual identity, programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as faculty who stray from the planned GOP restrictions. House Bill 999, for example, taking aim at higher education, seeks to outlaw spending on such programs and eliminate majors and minors focused on these issues. (The alternatives proposed: general ed courses that “promote the philosophical underpinnings of Western civilization.”)

In a country founded on free speech and freedom more broadly, this rights-shrinking mentality seems like gaslighting. Do these folks really want to turn the clock backwards? Do they really want to deny the truthful study of American history? Do they really think they make the world better by attacking vulnerable populations, stripping individual rights, rejecting academic freedom and passing laws meant to repress and oppress?

I wrote last August about some of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ridiculous speechmaking on the topic of wokeness and his anti-woke agenda, as if he’s engaged in a Churchillian, WWII-level struggle against the forces of evil. “We must fight the woke in our schools. We must fight the woke in our businesses. We must fight the woke in government agencies. We can never ever surrender to woke ideology.” Seriously.

But even emulating the rhythms of Churchill’s famed “We shall fight on the beaches” speech from 1940 near the end of the Dunkirk evacuation won’t change the essential emptiness and nastiness of this culture war campaign.

*snip*

[live love laugh]

1. #StayWoke

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. I love the legal definition of woke

Link to tweet

Link to tweet