Monday open thread: On the vagaries of "woke"

A long time ago, our own BB defended me against a former member of this blog. She described me as "one of the most 'woke'" people she knew. But what does this word mean?

"Woke" was and is a word in African American Vernacular English. It means being alert to racial prejudice and discrimination. It has a very particular meaning.

But, as with many Black idioms, we who are not of that community have appropriated it. And it has been glommed on by our enemies.

I can only speak for myself. But for me, "woke" means being aware of the systems of oppression which operate in our society. This is close to the original meaning of the word in the Black community. But not quite. As always, Black Americans devise a word, a culture, and non-Black Americans appropriate it. 

But too many of our supposed allies have appropriated this word to mean anything they don't like. It cheapens the word. And it opens for attacks from the right.

We see this all the time, with the right speaking of the "woke virus". The owner of Twitter references this all the time. 

However, what the right and its fulminations see is that the term has power. "Woke" has a power that they can't defy. If asked to define "woke", they sputter and stutter. They know that woke refers to the systems of oppression which are endemic to this American society. Yes, white Millennials are annoying. But they have a grasp of what the word means in its original context. And the right has no rejoinder. In our culture, how can anyone say that yes, white, Christian males should have power over everyone else, and not be laughed out of the conversation? 

As with every movement of progress, our Black community has led the way. It coined "woke". And the broader culture accepted it. Now we must be laser focused. Being "woke" means being aware of the systems of oppression which touch all of us. And we must challenge those who cavil about the "woke virus" to define what they mean by that. They won't be able to do so without being cast off from broader society. They want to turn "woke" into a bogeyman? Fine. Let them explain it.

This is your open thread.

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