In considering America’s ongoing “culture wars,” I remain amazed at the absurdity of those who attempt to “brand” people, companies, or organizations as being “woke” and, therefore, somehow not “real” Americans.
According to Merriam-Webster’s definition, “woke” is to be “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” Given that definition, I can’t understand what is so shameful about being aware of and attentive to facts and issues about any subject, including racial justice. If being “woke” means I am curious and want to learn and, in the process, grow as a more informed human being, please count me in.
Disparaging “wokeism” is about stoking paranoia and fear of anything or anyone who is different. More bluntly, it’s about wanting to keep people ignorant by using fear to paint anything or anyone who is not White, straight, mostly male, and often Christian as a threat to “our” societal values and “our” American way of life.
That begs the question: Who gets to define what it means to be an American, and who anointed them to do so?
America is a nation of immigrants. It is a melting pot of people from all walks of life from all over the world. Refusing to acknowledge that diversity or trying to define what it means to be an American is grotesquely distorting “our” history and reality as a nation, a nation that consists of over 300 million citizens. Given that diversity, how can anyone be so impudent to think that they have the right to define our “values” as a nation and society to be the “values” of only those who look or worship like themselves?
It’s all about fear. But fear comes in many forms. In this case, there is another type of fear at work, and it’s much deeper and more dangerous than meets the eye. These self-anointed cultural arbiters are afraid of being discovered for what they are: weak, paranoid, and unable to accept the realities of a changing world. While they attempt to project strength behind the façade, weakness and fear reign. And because they fear change, they want to convince us that we, too, should be afraid. They do this because the fear they face is the most powerful and frightening of all—the fear of facing The Truth.
Such deep-rooted fear can lead to dangerous, myopic, conspiracy-driven behavior. If you try to hide things, you must remember where you hid them. If you don’t hide things, you always know where to find them. The truth is a lot easier to remember accurately, than are lies previously told. In other words, the Truth shall set you free.
These self-described “patriots” and ‘heroes” fear having to acknowledge, confront, admit, and own the evidence and truth that for over 400 years, it has been White men who have established the rules, created the societal norms and institutions, and written the history that has served to maintain the White power structure. They stoke paranoia and fear to hide the fact that rather than being seen as strong, righteous heroes who are “protecting” us from harmful, “un-American” history and truths, they will be revealed for what they are doing. They are working to keep people ignorant and fearful because they believe the public isn’t smart, thoughtful, and trusted enough to be exposed to facts, history, and truths. And they fear that, armed with those facts and truths, they might be able to decide for themselves what to think of that history, those truths, and those who are actively whitewashing, ignoring, or distorting those truths.
In other words, they fear that if we are exposed to that history and truth, they will be exposed not as righteous American “heroes” or “patriots” but as lying frauds.
