A Letter to Lori on "Woke culture"

 

Hey Lori,
I said in my reply to your text message that I would get back to you about “Woke culture” which you mentioned at lunch last week. You asked what I think of the idea that you can’t call men, men any more or women, women.Trying to address that issue to the depth needed would have been too disruptive to the spirit of get-together that we were there for, so I didn’t even try. I just said that if anyone ever says that to you tell them to GF themselves; and I made a mental note to get back to you about it.

The word Woke originated in African-American culture and was used for decades before a distorted version of it found its way into the broader American society, and from there to the rest of the (Western) world. In African-American language the word Woke means awareness of what keeps racism alive. That awareness is a critique of the sense of entitlement of many (or probably most) white Americans who are, but won’t admit to being, white supremacists.

Entitlement assumes itself to be immune to criticism and therefore regards criticism of itself as illegitimate. So people with a sense of entitlement don’t like to be criticised. Rather than respond to the substance of criticism, the entitled retaliate by denigrating their critics. Instead of “playing the issue” they “play the man.” They portray their critics in the media as dangerous and unruly which provides an excuse to police them with brutality, which, in turn, reinforces the opinion that they are dangerous and unruly. It’s a (literally) vicious cycle - a self-fulfilling prophesy.

The word Woke, as used outside the African-American community, has replaced the term politically correct as the term of abuse for any issue that seeks to increase the inclusiveness of society, and there are many and ever more of such issues. Therefore people who are racist are bigoted in more ways than one. They are also sexist, homophobic, pro-guns, climate-change deniers, anti-welfare, and much, much more. They are also anti-democratic. Consequently, African-Americans have many potential allies. Or to put it another way, white supremacists have a much larger and ever growing target than African-Americans to denigrate and misrepresent. Rather than retaliate separately against each of the different interest groups that critique them, they conveniently lump them all together and call them… what? “Woke culture”. Whenever you hear the term “Woke culture” you are not hearing an objective description of what’s out there: you’re hearing a loaded phrase with a politically-incorrect agenda.

Unsurprisingly, the entitled pick the word that their most hated opponents use to describe themselves - Woke. They hold the word up to ridicule and attach it to the word culture to include all Americans who question their sense of entitlement. And they apply it to any and every effort by other people to obtain respect and fairness for themselves. Needless to say what is said about America and Americans here applies almost seamlessly to Australia and Australians.
 

Coming a close second to people who are targets of racism, the part of society that most challenges “everyday” people is the LGBTQI+ community and it’s concern for gender issues - you know, “toilets and pronouns”. Because this is the most contested claim for recognition, it is also the the easiest to distort and to misrepresent as the pinnacle of “Woke culture”. Media coverage is concocted to weaponise gender so that “everyday” people are misled into thinking that people who advocate for a flexible attitude towards gender really do say that “you can’t call men, men any more or women, women”; thereby “proving” the “absurdity” of “Woke culture”.  

By distorting the meaning of the word Woke, and using it as a label to denigrate all efforts to obtain justice for minority groups and equity for all, white Americans with a sense of entitlement create the conditions in which “everyday” people become less willing to consider issues of justice and equity, thereby maintaining the privileged position of the entitled in society, because the more people who are misled into believing deliberate distortions, the fewer people there are to support policies of inclusiveness.

What all this shows is that there are two competing mind-sets. One that want access to power and resources to become more and more inclusive; the other that wants society to exclude people for one reason or another, and then another, and another and on and on. Excluding people is easy. Going along with the mob is safe. Supporting inclusiveness is hard work. Recognising distortions and calling them out is risky and requires discernment, because, while everything that is done to exclude people is wrong but popular, not everything that is done to increase inclusiveness is self-evidently the right thing to do. Making a judgement about new claims for recognition requires humility and the courage to learn from others.

An example might help at this point: trans-women in sport. Should biological males be allowed to compete with females? Of course not, say those who are opposed. And that’s hard to disagree with, until you listen to those in support. When you hear their arguments you have a choice. Stick with your initial reaction; or ponder the insights of others that may not yet ring true. This does not put you at risk of going along with the “other mob”, because if their insights never ring true you won’t change what you think. Here’s a second example which I won’t elaborate on: pronouns. You either know what I mean by that and will see the point instantly; or you don’t know what I mean, in which case think yourself lucky. A third example with an obvious and simple solution: toilets. Should biological males use female toilets? Let’s not even go there. Just add a third, unisex, toilet. But that’s a lot of expense to go to, I hear opponents say. The same was said when women first started agitating to be elected to parliament. There’s no women’s toilets, the blokes said.

Increasing inclusiveness will always involve adjusting the way we do things. People who don’t like other people’s changes will always misrepresent their reasons for change. If something they say about the other mob’s agenda is absurd, it’s probably not what the other mob say.

Follow your bliss and bliss your followers, but above all…
Go jollily,
Paul

PS You might wonder why I have spent a thousand words on what’s going on in America? I wish I didn’t have to. But guess who imported imported the term “Woke culture” into Australia. Not “everyday” people like you and me. It was LNP politicians. We caught it from them. They may or may not be aware of the offence they give to African-Americans by their misuse of the term, but even if they are, they obviously don’t care and will still say woke rather than politically-correct because it’s easier - one syllable instead of six.

PPS The term politically-correct also started life as a neutral term - the name given to awareness of the need to use language that is respectful and fair. It became a term of abuse when people who don’t want to be respectful and fair started saying it with a sneer.