No one knows what the word woke means. Even people who use it can't define it. It's just a boogeyman word for things people don't like or want, and even they can't agree on it.
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
604 points (97.8% liked)
politics
19105 readers
2941 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
I’m becoming more and more convinced that a “woke” person is anyone who calls right-wingers out on being overtly racist/sexist/fascist. Or maybe anyone who just isn’t obviously racist/sexist/fascist.
It's a catch all just like "communism" and "socialism" were/are. Big words that people don't know the actual definition of that can sound scary
God damn woke communists with their BLM Antifa caravans of socialist illegals!
At least "communism" and "socialism" have theoretical definition. But yes, they were so heavily pulled into propaganda warfare, that they basically are used as synonyms for "enemy", as opposite of "democracy" and "freedom", and so on.
Btw "free speech" is another term that is watered down more and more. Also again by the right wing fuckers who complain that whenever they are criticized it would be an attack on "free speech". Which is also bullshit. You can say (mostly) what you want without being suppressed. But you can't expect those that hear it to just swallow it.
load more comments
(2 replies)
It's anyone they think will call them out. They don't even need to be called out first.
They declare something new is woke and then we call them racist/sexist/fascist
They're the ones picking targets, not us.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Last December, a Federal judge asked DeSantis’s general counsel to define “woke,” and he did, thusly:
He answered woke is "the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”
fascinating…
Really that's the closest we've come to an actual proper definition of the term "woke" by a conservative (and I'm like 90% confident that DeSantis' lawyers got that definition from the first few lines of the Wikipedia page on this term).
Yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, other conservatives give very different definitions, or none at all. VICE asked several conservatives at CPAC for a definition of the term and got a bunch of different answers (and vague non-answers). During an interview a conservative author who wrote an entire book about "wokeness" couldn't give a definition of the term. A few weeks ago Noah Samsen made a response to an anti-woke YouTuber by the name "Think Before You Sleep", who simply defined woke as "communism" (whatever he thinks that means).
For all intents and purposes, "woke" might as well just mean "anything vaguely progressive that I don't like".
Ok a court filing, DeSantis lawyers defined "woke" as, "the belief that there are systemic inequities in US society and the need to work against them".
Which is not bad as a definition, really.
It still means what it always meant. Being aware of society's injustices to the poor, downtrodden, or minority population and wanting to do something about it. They can't fucking stand that.
Being against being "woke" truly reveals who they are. That they just want to sweep it all under a rug and forget about it.
load more comments
(6 replies)
No the problem is that woke does have a meaning, and most people know what that meaning is. The problem is that if republicans actually defined it out loud they'd have to admit what they actually take issue with and what they're actually fighting, and doing so would basically be admitting that they're the baddies. It'd be saying the quiet part out loud. By avoiding acknowledging the actual meaning of the word they get to pretend that wokeness is a nebulous Bad Thing that should be fought against.
"Woke is now defined in this dictionary as “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),” and identified as U.S. slang. It originated in African American English and gained more widespread use beginning in 2014 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement."
Everyone knows what the word means, it's just impossible to define without sounding like a bigot. Because it means "not a bigot."
load more comments
(5 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
Based General for not even entertaining the idea of knowing what the W word even means.
It's too bad all our journalists are sold out to corpos otherwise they should respond to anyone wanting woke with "what is that? Idk what you are talking about please elaborate".
Not that "based" makes sense here either, but yes, exactly: "woke" means whatever the speaker wants it to mean at the time, like "cromulent".
That's not entirely true. To pass the "stop WOKE act", the bill had to have a definition of"wokeness". You know what the definition is? Awareness of systemic injustice.
Jesus Christ, we all have the goddamn internet:
Dictionary Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more woke verb past of wake1.
This isn't hard!
load more comments
(3 replies)
The first few times I heard "woke" used, it was in the context of people who don't follow the sheep because they aren't asleep. Hence, they have woke up.
Yes, and now the sheep are using it as an insult.
It was always a vacuous ambiguous way to say someone was liberally enlightened without having to justify the claim with anything specific. That is true for both the positive and pejorative use of woke. I enjoy the song "Wide Awake" by Parquet Courts that made fun of the term in it's original use.
That is true for both the positive and pejorative use of woke.
At this point, from what I can tell, there is no truth for the pejorative use of 'woke.' It means whatever the Republican saying it wants it to mean. If they want it to mean anything at all but 'this is a bad thing.'
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
How's not being woke working out for the slowly imploding Russian military?
You mean the one only staffed by minority serfs and white male convicts?
How can a military be "woke"? They literally tour the world killing brown poor people.
The word has no meaning any more, and likely never did.
"Woke is the word I use to express my absolute and utterly baseless hatred for any Person, Thing, Idea or Concept, without having to resort to the hard slurs that would get me eviscerated and remove my plausible deniability" - Republican Zeitgeist
load more comments
(7 replies)
Woke is rights for minorities, women, the LGBTQ community, non Christians, and workers.
It a code word for hateful bigots.
load more comments
(2 replies)
Absurd on the face of it. But making a cogent point is beside the point here, all they're really doing is sending the message that as soon as they're back in power, the military will be politicized.
Edit: Or possibly given the Russian military treatment; contracts awarded, real units never delivered, and the money all absconded with by craven oligarchs until the only way to prosecute a war is with mercs.
Edit 2: Merc squads padded out with penal legions. We do have plenty of prisoners, after all.
The military would be changed to defend the regime instead of the country.
Part of it was communicated via Trump's pardon of the war criminal. In Trump's mind, he was signaling that he would let the military do whatever they wanted in exchange for loyalty. For most of the military senior brass, it was a symbol of giving up on their ideals.
when you've got an organization filled with high school grads, funded by religious gun nuts, you're not gonna get the brightest people
Tbf, the way Republicans use the word to mean anything, even I wouldn't be certain what the word means in that context.
load more comments
(2 replies)
Can you imagine going through everything it takes to become a high ranking officer to then have to answer to these asshats?
Just look at this guy's career. 44 years with his nose to the grindstone and boots on the ground just to have chickenhawks scream at you about "wokeness."
load more comments
(1 replies)
These people never change. They complained when they allowed non white people to enlist. They complained when they stop segregating the units. They complained about woman, about inclusivity etc. They just keep moving the goalpost whenever there is progress then, claim the next thing will destroy the military. Just their thinly weiled prejudice.
I love how republicans navigated themselves into a position where the best thing anyone else can do is ignoring them.
No discussion, because it doesn’t lead anywhere.
No listening to them, because they talk about the end of the white race, autism from vaccines or woke stuff.
It’s like living with children, but you at least listen to a child when something bothers them. You don’t care for republicans, conservatives or nazis. It doesn’t matter how they call themselves. At this point, they march together and therefore are the same.
If only they hadn’t the right to vote…things could be easier.
(If you read any kind of 4chan conspiracy theory about leftist communist cannibals from lizard space who want to abolish their right to vote, now you now where it came from.)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Most accurate headline ever, on both counts 😂
I find it hard to believe that the largest and most effective organization designed specifically to kill or otherwise incapacitate whichever opposing forces their set against, isn't woke.
It's pretty obvious that Gen. Milley is wearing a wig, and what do you think he's hiding below that wig? Yep, you guessed it, blue and purple dyed hair.
I guarantee you that after this sham of a hearing, Gen. Milley's entire polycule was laughing at how xe hoodwinked us yet again.
FYI Gen. Milley's preferred pronoun is Xe, so put some respect on that shit.
load more comments
(1 replies)
"Woke" could be taken as the opposite of "denialist".
Wikipedia defines "woke" as "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination", although today it's often extended to other prejudices besides racism.
Thus, "anti-woke" can be taken to mean "in denial about racial (etc.) prejudice and discrimination".
For example, we could say that the Association of German National Jews, the pro-Nazi Jewish group that existed from 1921 to 1935, was an "anti-woke" organization. This group sought to convince German Jews that they could drop their Jewishness and assimilate within a Nazi-dominated Germany.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Why does anyone care what Miley Cyrus has to say about the military?!? I mean, she sits on a wrecking ball naked!!
What?
Oh, nevermind.
— Roseanne Roseannadanna
view more: next ›