When, Why, and How Did “Woke” Become a Bad Thing?
The meaning of our own word has been misappropriated AGAIN.
Issue #141 OpEd October 3, 2022
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Just as they recently did with “Critical Race Theory,” the Republicans have co-opted a word that originated in Black culture and thought and turned it into a pejorative. The word, already in wide use, now has the opposite meaning from its earliest connotations.
The word “woke” and its true meaning originated in the Black community decades ago, but white people, specifically right-wingers in the United States and other European countries have misappropriated and distorted “woke” and transformed the word to mean anything thought to be challenging systemic racism and discrimination in all of its forms.
“Woke” is now a derisive stand-in for diversity, inclusion, empathy, and Blackness in all of its forms.
Today, the word is used to limit the discussion of or teaching about racism, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights and their bodily autonomy, gender inequality, anything antithetical to white supremacy, and the suppression of the rights of all others.
A Timeline of the Word “Woke”
In 1923, the Black Activist Marcus Garvey declared: “Wake up, Ethiopia! Wake up, Africa!”
In 1938, blues musician “Lead Belly” uses the phrase ”stay woke” in his song titled “Scottsboro Boys.”
In 1940, a leader of the Negro United Mine Workers supported a strike against discriminatory pay in West Virginia by stating, “...we were asleep. But we will stay woke from now on.” (Emphasis mine.)
In 1940, William Melvin Kelley published an essay published in the New York Times, titled “If You’re Woke, You Dig It.”
In 1972, author Barry Beckham uses the word ”woke” in the play Garvey Lives!
In 2008, singer Erykah Badu included the lyrics stay woke” in her song “Master Teacher.”
Starting in the 2010s, the word “woke” and its meaning started to be used broadly to describe anything to do with social justice and becomes appropriated into a negative descriptor for anything having to do with anti-discrimination, empathy, and anti-discrimination.
In 2017, ”Stay Woke” appeared as a category on Jeopardy.
In 2020, a comedy series titled “Woke” premieres on Hulu.
In 2022, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signs the “Stop W.O.K.E.” Act into law in the state.
Just about everything positive and meaningful to the Black community has been hijacked, diluted, and changed by the greater society: our music, our fashion styles, our dances, our cultural references, and most of all, our history.
The overall goal is to demonize and further marginalize entire groups of human beings and their lives, their histories, and their contributions to American society.
It is up to us to stand up, stand firm, and take back that which has been stolen from us and then used against us.
Being ”woke” is a good thing.
How do you feel about the way “woke” is being misused by the right wing around the world? Let us know in the comments!
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