Un-Woke, Woke, and Anti-woke
The Opportunity of Awakening from Social Comas
In the study of language, there is the notion of indexicality, which means that words and things have meaning in relation to particular contexts. If you want to know what a word means, you need to know the context of its use. As we know, a single word can have multiple meanings depending on when and where it is used, and also those meanings can evolve over time as society changes.
Take the word “woke” for instance, a term that has received increasing attention of late. The word “woke” in a historical context would refer to no longer being asleep. More specifically, if someone was awoken, that meant they were lifted from their slumber by some event that took place. A person could be “woke” from a sleep by a noise or action. It also could mean to be aroused from lethargy, such as “She woke to the importance of the situation.”
For the vast majority of my life, I don’t think paid much attention to the word “woke”. It was just one word amongst many words that sometimes got used, and sometimes didn’t. As far as words go, I wouldn’t say it was a popular or unpopular one. It was useful in appropriate situations, but (ironically) didn’t rouse many people in the way of emotions.
That, of course, has changed dramatically. Today the word “woke” has gotten quite the workout, with increased frequency and emotional impact.
In relation to current events that are taking place around social justice, to become “woke” means that one becomes aware and conscious of injustices of the past or currently taking place. Furthermore, woke means a call to action emanating from that realization, seeking to rectify those injustices.
What then would be the opposite of “woke”? To be not woke might literally mean to be asleep, which in this contemporary context would mean being unaware. As an educator, I emphasize to my students that there is nothing wrong with not knowing, as it is a condition we all are in at some point. The goal of education is to teach, which means to show or explain as well as share knowledge and experience. We can those of those in this position to be “un-woke.” They become woke when exposed to information that awakens their awareness of a topic.
What then would “anti-woke” mean? If being “woke” means that one is now conscious of social disparities, racial inequality, systemic discrimination, and historical mistreatment, then being anti-woke might mean being against becoming aware of these things. And in fact, those who profess being anti-woke are the same ones who are seeking to ban that kind of material and subject from educational environments and corporate settings. In other words, they are against waking up.
Thinking about becoming “woke”, we might conceive the following categories:
Those who don’t know about past and present injustices (un-woke)
Those who know and want these things remedied (woke)
Those who know, don’t want others to know, and don’t want to do anything about it (and even preserve the injustices) (anti-woke)
The question then could be asked, “Why not become woke, or awaken?” What is the concern about being made aware of these problems existing in our society?
Attempts to limit knowledge of these “woke” topics have been rapidly increasing. By February 2022, “US states have introduced 137 bills limiting what schools can teach on race, history, sexual orientation, and gender since the beginning of this year” (story). These laws and efforts are having their intended effect. Under the auspices of “parents’ rights” and “states’ rights”, history is being erased from the classroom.
Given that critical race theory is not taught in K-12 education (if at all in post-secondary education), anti-CRT laws are really are focused on not teaching about historical discrimination and contemporary inequality.
For instance, North Shore Elementary School, located in Pinellas County, Florida, banned the showing of the movie Ruby Bridges. The movie depicts the events involving Ruby Bridges, who at 6 years-old integrated an all-white school in New Orleans. There was nothing in the movie that was deemed historically inaccurate. Rather, it was the historical accuracy that was the problem for one parent. “In a formal challenge dated March 6, Emily Conklin wrote that the use of racial slurs and scenes of white people threatening Ruby as she entered a school might result in students learning that white people hate Black people” (story).
The story continues, “Lawmakers have made clear that they don’t want books, movies or lessons about race to create student discomfort, though they also have said they want facts presented honestly.”
Not to be outdone, the Duval County Public Schools in Florida. The district made “a $3 million dollar investment in inclusive classroom library books that would connect with its diverse population” (story). Once laws started to be passed regarding “inappropriate” school content, those materials were collected in order to undergo a review. Through that process, those rejected titles included books with LGBTQ+ characters. They also included books on Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, and Hiawatha. The Florida Freedom to Read Project has an extensive summary of this process and outcome (link).
Of course, part of the job of education is to create some sense of discomfort as discomfort is a fundamental part of growth. When trying to get in better physical shape, the process is to introduce discomfort and effort to the body to stimulate and adaptive physiological response which improves the cardiovascular and muscular systems.
Education works in the same way. Being exposed to new ideas, uncomfortable pasts, unknown contemporary events, and analytic lenses to explore these topics are what intellectual growth is about. Avoiding that means that we stay stagnant.
The other question is why would the anti-woke feel uncomfortable about learning the past? Learning about the transgressions of the past is an important part of not allowing them to happen in the future. The old saying of “Those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it” is true. The more we are ignorant of the past, the more likely it becomes that it can happen again.
Attempts to curtail and eliminate content have been couched under larger claims of fighting against pornography and inappropriate material for certain ages. “But when you look deeper, you see that the “porn” they are calling out is really just the existence of queer people. The ‘CRT’ messages are just honest portrayals of the racism that has underpinned much of American history” (link).
The question then could be asked, why curtail the telling of honest portrayals of American history? Why does Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts have to read “The Life of Rosa Parks” into the Congressional Record given that it was no longer available to second graders in Duval County? Duval County representatives said they never ordered the book, so they took it off the shelves and returned it. But this does not negate the fact that the book was removed. Additionally, it was reported that the book was reviewed by Duval County and was rated as “highly against the county’s criteria.”
While there might be many answers to the question of why, one potential answer is that once you know about it, you are in the position of deciding whether you should do something about it, or more generally whether something should be done about it. Being anti-woke, or pro-asleep, also means not having to talk about topics that make one uncomfortable with the realization that if you are not against these injustices, then perhaps you are for promoting them.
To be perpetually asleep also can be thought of as being in a coma. A basic dictionary definition of coma is “a state of deep unconsciousness that lasts for a prolonged or indefinite period.” To be anti-woke, then, would be in favor of this continued state of social unconsciousness. To put this state into broader effect through legislation would be to enforce it on a societal level.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to attribute what one’s motivation is for any action. Therefore, I can’t say what is motivating the resistance against teaching these topics. However, it if hard to imagine the motivation of limiting teaching about the past in historically accurate terms because it might make people feel ‘uncomfortable.’ The past and present should be uncomfortable when it involves systemic discrimination and injustices aimed at particular groups for no other reason than belonging to those groups.
Being awake can be uncomfortable when doing so means having to deal with unpleasant realities. But staying asleep doesn’t make those realities go away. It just means that we lack the courage to face them.
Pretending to be asleep doesn’t make the discomfort go away. It just makes the infection fester. It’s all motivated by fear and a scarcity mindset, a belief that if some rise, then others fall. But, tides rise together. And the only way this country can truly be great is to face our past and present and heal, together.
So being "woke" means you are not a ignorant biggot, and being "non-woke: means you are.
Interesting.