There’s a video doing the rounds of a Republican rent-a-gob getting owned. And she knows it, saying that the clip would go viral. It’s the one thing she’s not wrong about. The presenter is savvy. She just asks the young woman what she means when she uses the term “woke”. Adding, “Take your time” is the icing on a very delicious cake.
Woke was a Black American term that was co-opted and warped by racists. And this young woman is clearly, sadly, racist. Woke is a word she can use to be openly racist without being openly racist. When she’s asked to be open about it, to define and look at it, she suffers such cognitive dissonance she can barely string two words together. That’s a good tactic I must remember: just ask questions. Ask them to explain.
Before Covid exposed a widespread selfishness I hadn’t realised was there, I used to say things like, “There are far more good people than the other sort, it’s just that the other sort are louder.’’ I’m no longer sure that’s true. I now think a lot more people than I realised can’t be bothered one way or another, no matter how “nice” or “lovely” they may appear. Covid hardened me rather, but only because it opened my eyes.
Once they were open, I saw the same dynamic in political engagement. This isn’t always people’s fault. They have been educated then gaslit in such a way that they see ‘politics’ as something separate from them, something dull and eternally chaotic and stupid and internecine.
They don’t realise that politics are what affects every basic element of their daily lives, every stage in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, from the cost of shelter to their ability to meet their goals and have a sense of purpose. They’ll finally realise this when the smoke reaches their own street, which makes them appear selfish. They may just be unaware. (Though I honestly don’t know how excusable that is when the evidence is all around that venal billionaires are killing us, but some more quickly than others).
And awareness is what woke is all about. Woke is knowing things ain’t right, or equal, or fair. Then, instead of shrugging your shoulders and saying to yourself, “Well, life isn’t fair”, like that’s a natural law, you straighten them and speak and take action to make life that bit more fair and equitable, in your own small corner of the world. Thanks to platforms like the Bylines Network, you can speak even more loudly than that. Write for us. We need to be as loud as The Other Sort. ‘Nice’ isn’t cutting it.
On this Long Covid Awareness Day, I’m part of a mob. Are you in?
I couldn't help but laugh. I feel a bit bad for her.
Excellent commentary.