Nothing about Woke One was a mistake. Cancellations? It’s not our fault there are so many rapists and racists in positions of public power. Is it really preferable to just shrug and say it’s fine for a rapist to be president?
Corporate entities were never allies in social justice, but it’s good that they felt pressure to increase diversity.
Performative statements that are pro-democracy, pro-justice are good things, regardless of the mixed intentions behind them.
As for defunding police and prison abolition? The case for those has never been stronger, as police are partnering with ICE and using flock cameras to destroy privacy, among other things. It’s also historical myopia to view these as merely Woke One when they have been part of radical political activism for a long, long time.
The telling -- and not surprising -- thing about the current accountability movement here is that it's being directed squarely at one group. The media never focused on accountability for the Iraq war or the Great Recession or any number of other things that happened and had specific persons or organizations you could target in the way they have suddenly rallied around trying to take down this largely amorphous vibe shift.
Basically, we need some serious historians to write the history of, say, 2016-2022 real fast. Because people are memory holing the big things that happened -- the reality of COVID, January 6, the massive, popular US protest against police shootings and racism -- and making mountains out of the proverbial molehills of campus politics and 'vibes.' There were no 'lockdowns' on the scale of what happened almost everywhere else in the world, but rather a series of improvised things in the face of desperation and bad choices and limited knowledge; there was no Bolshevik cabal in power, but rather a brief moment where people tried on new progressive languages and concepts; and the George Floyd protests were real and organic, not the riot of some Antifa sleeper cell. Oh, yeah, and ALL of this happened with a corrupt, moronic buffoon in the President's office, always there to make every problem worse and every tension of a tense time that more agonizing.
To me, "woke" is a remarkably effective piece of shorthand has been used to "describe" or "characterize" anyone who is NOT white, straight, male, Christian Nationalist, and MAGA conservative, along with any organizations or institutions that do not prioritize these characteristics/affiliations. It's a simple attack adjective with no actual meaning that has been used to support a lot of formal discrimination throughout almost every aspect of American culture.
I got as far as "Not “Black Lives Matter” but defund and abolish." I had to stop because that's incorrect. The whole point is "Black lives matter". We don't want to mow a swath through our communities defunding and abolishing police departments without consideration, because there are some necessary functions they perform. We may want to take their firepower away and train them in mental health rescue, but we don't want to take away a sector of public service that is helpful in emergencies. Black lives DO matter, and it isn't only police who perpetrate violence and injustice without the awareness that they are doing so. Communities that allow injustices to go unchecked and unquestioned are at fault as well. I would hazard that an editor that missed this is missing that awareness. We need our politicians to do better, but we need to do better to hold them to that standard.
The rights ability to weaponize words like ‘woke’, DEI, even equality into something they are not and the mainstream lefts’ inability to respond (or laugh in their racist, misogynistic faces) remains infuriating.
Dems for the most part are forever in react or retreat mode. They cave to the rights talking points (lies) and often adopt some of them. Never fighting on their own terms.
I don’t really know what can be done about any of this. I’m just beyond frustrated that so many are focusing on ‘Dems in disarray’ crap while the richest get richer at the expense of everyone else, the world is literally burning, while the GOP is doing all they can to push this country into full blown fascism. Our priorities as a people are incredibly fucked up.
I disagree that forcing candidates to take back "silly" tweets isn't "in the offing". Isn't Francesca Hong being forced to address her past social media comments as an individual? You yourself referenced "cancel Thanksgiving" in this very writing.
Nothing about Woke One was a mistake. Cancellations? It’s not our fault there are so many rapists and racists in positions of public power. Is it really preferable to just shrug and say it’s fine for a rapist to be president?
Corporate entities were never allies in social justice, but it’s good that they felt pressure to increase diversity.
Performative statements that are pro-democracy, pro-justice are good things, regardless of the mixed intentions behind them.
As for defunding police and prison abolition? The case for those has never been stronger, as police are partnering with ICE and using flock cameras to destroy privacy, among other things. It’s also historical myopia to view these as merely Woke One when they have been part of radical political activism for a long, long time.
The telling -- and not surprising -- thing about the current accountability movement here is that it's being directed squarely at one group. The media never focused on accountability for the Iraq war or the Great Recession or any number of other things that happened and had specific persons or organizations you could target in the way they have suddenly rallied around trying to take down this largely amorphous vibe shift.
I prefer the term "social justice." "Woke" is a Republican pejorative.
Basically, we need some serious historians to write the history of, say, 2016-2022 real fast. Because people are memory holing the big things that happened -- the reality of COVID, January 6, the massive, popular US protest against police shootings and racism -- and making mountains out of the proverbial molehills of campus politics and 'vibes.' There were no 'lockdowns' on the scale of what happened almost everywhere else in the world, but rather a series of improvised things in the face of desperation and bad choices and limited knowledge; there was no Bolshevik cabal in power, but rather a brief moment where people tried on new progressive languages and concepts; and the George Floyd protests were real and organic, not the riot of some Antifa sleeper cell. Oh, yeah, and ALL of this happened with a corrupt, moronic buffoon in the President's office, always there to make every problem worse and every tension of a tense time that more agonizing.
To me, "woke" is a remarkably effective piece of shorthand has been used to "describe" or "characterize" anyone who is NOT white, straight, male, Christian Nationalist, and MAGA conservative, along with any organizations or institutions that do not prioritize these characteristics/affiliations. It's a simple attack adjective with no actual meaning that has been used to support a lot of formal discrimination throughout almost every aspect of American culture.
I got as far as "Not “Black Lives Matter” but defund and abolish." I had to stop because that's incorrect. The whole point is "Black lives matter". We don't want to mow a swath through our communities defunding and abolishing police departments without consideration, because there are some necessary functions they perform. We may want to take their firepower away and train them in mental health rescue, but we don't want to take away a sector of public service that is helpful in emergencies. Black lives DO matter, and it isn't only police who perpetrate violence and injustice without the awareness that they are doing so. Communities that allow injustices to go unchecked and unquestioned are at fault as well. I would hazard that an editor that missed this is missing that awareness. We need our politicians to do better, but we need to do better to hold them to that standard.
The rights ability to weaponize words like ‘woke’, DEI, even equality into something they are not and the mainstream lefts’ inability to respond (or laugh in their racist, misogynistic faces) remains infuriating.
Dems for the most part are forever in react or retreat mode. They cave to the rights talking points (lies) and often adopt some of them. Never fighting on their own terms.
I don’t really know what can be done about any of this. I’m just beyond frustrated that so many are focusing on ‘Dems in disarray’ crap while the richest get richer at the expense of everyone else, the world is literally burning, while the GOP is doing all they can to push this country into full blown fascism. Our priorities as a people are incredibly fucked up.
I disagree that forcing candidates to take back "silly" tweets isn't "in the offing". Isn't Francesca Hong being forced to address her past social media comments as an individual? You yourself referenced "cancel Thanksgiving" in this very writing.
“ Democrats actually did pretty well during Peak Woke!”
One big exception. At this point in 2020 the Dems looked to expand on their House lead. They almost lost it.
Nice article, Brian. This sounds like the left version of the Shock Doctrine.