What is “Woke?”
The term woke started gaining prominence in the late 2010s. Initially, it referred to the growing awareness, particularly among more privileged white individuals, of the struggles and lived experiences of marginalized groups, especially Black Americans. The movement was largely shaped by public reactions to the unjust killings of unarmed Black people by law enforcement. For many white people, including myself, this period was eye-opening as we listened to Black voices sharing their daily realities and the fears they carry.
As a White person, I don’t experience the same fear when interacting with police officers. While I might be uncomfortable or irritated during a traffic stop, I don’t have to worry about the possibility of an encounter turning life-threatening, a very real fear that many Black Americans face. The disproportionate instances of police violence against Black individuals, even if not large in absolute numbers, highlight deep-rooted systemic issues.
These discussions led to a broader discourse on systemic racism, a concept that acknowledges the lingering effects of slavery and segregation on American institutions and society. It's not just about the overtly racist practices that ended decades ago; it’s about the legacy of those practices that continues to shape the landscape today—whether through housing, education, or economic disparities. Recognizing this legacy was crucial and sparked important conversations about how to address these inequalities.
Black Lives Matter
During this period of increased public awareness of the ongoing legacy of racism, George Floyd’s murder lit a flame that thrust movements like Black Lives Matter (BLM) into the public consciousness. The phrase "Black lives matter" should, in theory, be uncontroversial, but the movement became a flashpoint for cultural and political conflict because while some saw it as an important and necessary acknowledgment of systemic problems, others perceived it as divisive or even threatening.
The fact that this phrase sparked such strong opposition says more about the state of public sentiment than it does about the movement itself. If hearing "Black lives matter" triggers a defensive or negative reaction, it's worth reflecting on why that might be. Over time, though, the BLM movement became associated with other controversial ideas, most notably the call to “defund the police,” which complicated the message for many people. It was no surprise that this triggered widespread backlash from police departments and the public. However, the intention behind it was often more nuanced than the slogan suggested.
For most, the call wasn’t to abolish police forces but to reallocate some of their funding toward social services. The argument was that police officers were being asked to handle a range of issues—mental health crises, drug addiction, domestic disputes—that were outside their training and core competencies. The idea was to reduce the police’s role in these areas, which often resulted in negative outcomes, and instead fund specialized services that could address these issues more effectively.
But the messaging problem was clear. "Defund the police" was a poor political slogan because it was easily misinterpreted and fueled fears that progressives were advocating for lawlessness. People began to associate the slogan with being anti-police, which wasn’t the original intent for most.
The problem wasn't just the slogan; it was also the execution. In some places, funds were indeed diverted from police budgets, but there was no systematic plan in place to replace those lost services. Cities like San Francisco saw spikes in petty crime, and the lack of clear alternatives led to chaos in public safety systems. Ultimately, a public backlash led to the reversal of these strategies in most places.
This failure in implementation mirrored other examples from political history, such as the Republicans’ attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act without offering a clear, viable replacement. The lesson here is that activism requires both a critique of the status quo and a well-thought-out, practical plan for change. Without both, even well-intentioned movements can fall apart. This stands as a cautionary tale for future activists. While passion and momentum are crucial, long-term solutions require policy expertise, gradual implementation, and coalition-building across diverse communities.
Cancel Culture and Critical Race Theory
Another outgrowth of this cultural trend also commonly associated with the term “woke” is cancel culture. Cancel culture is essentially an informal system for enforcing societal "purity tests" where individuals or companies that don’t align with the ever-evolving standards of political correctness are publicly shamed, ostracized, or even professionally destroyed. This kind of punitive social mechanism has had widespread repercussions.
People lost jobs or were “canceled” for making what many would consider minor transgressions—perhaps failing to keep up with the latest acceptable terminology or voicing an opinion that didn't completely align with progressive norms. This culture has often stifled open dialogue, creating an atmosphere where individuals feel they must toe the line or face severe consequences.
The public perception of wokeness took another hit thanks to the emergence of previously-fringe ideas like critical race theory (CRT). While CRT helped bring attention to the systemic issues facing marginalized groups, some of its interpretations went further, suggesting that racism is an inherent and fundamental part of American identity and culture. This more extreme narrative understandably alienated many who felt it painted too broad a brushstroke, labeling them as complicit in systemic racism merely by virtue of their skin color or lack of engagement with progressive discourse.
People who once might have been willing to engage in discussions about racial inequality now found themselves on the defensive. Conversations around race, privilege, and diversity became politically charged, with each side retreating into ideological corners, making productive dialogue more difficult. And in many cases, the response has been a different form of cancel culture - book bans, angry school board meetings, and other attempts to shut down opposing views. In the end, both sides ended up resorting to the same tactic of leveraging mob rule to win a culture war, rather than seeking to understand the motives and perspectives of their fellow citizens.
Politics
The excesses of these movements, to which “woke” is now the broadly used shorthand,
has also had a profound impact on politics. The election of Donald Trump, for example, fueled the flames of both wokeness and cancel culture. Many progressives viewed his popularity as proof of America’s fundamental flaws, leading to even more fervent activism. Meanwhile, his detractors, both conservative and moderate, found themselves at odds with the increasingly radical segments of the left.
Fast forward to 2024, and the vibe is thankfully starting to feel different. The extremes of cancel culture and radical wokeness have started to recede. DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies that were once celebrated in corporate and academic spaces are being re-evaluated, toned down, or in some cases, dismantled. There’s a renewed effort to find balance—where conversations around race and inequality and efforts to eliminate biases can still occur without descending into ideological dogma or abandoning objective forms of evaluation.
As these political tides shift, there is an opportunity for a return to something resembling comity. Candidates who adopt more moderate language (like the current incarnation of Kamala Harris), offer the promise of moving beyond the polarizing discourse of recent years. This middle path could cool the flames of both radical “wokeness” and reactionary “anti-woke” culture and steer us toward a more inclusive and less divisive future.
Note: this article was initially created as an audio essay similar to my last two posts, which I used Google’s Recorder app to transcribe. I uploaded the transcript to ChatGPT with the prompt “turn this transcript into a blog-style post,” about 80% of which remained intact after I made my final edits. I’m hoping this workflow will prove an efficient way to turn my rough draft audio versions into text-based posts.