White People Keep Misusing the Word ‘Woke’
They twisted it into something it never meant
The word woke, got tossed like a salad. What started as a phrase amongst Black advocates has become an abused tool. White people on both sides of the ideological spectrum misused this word.
Liberals often use the term as a sense of pride. They theorize that wokeness can save them from white privilege and their role in white supremacy. This perspective is noble but misguided. On the other end, conservatives lament, woke police, accusing them of cancel-culture. Instead of self-introspection like the liberal, the conservative rejects the assertions by woke Black people. Thus, they try to condemn the very idea of condemning them. See how convoluted that got right quick. They see the insistence on racial equality as problematic as opposed to actual racial inequality. Tsk, tsk. Both groups made the same mistake by taking a word out of context.
The term woke has been around for while within the Black community. But, it gained steam through our music. Erykah Badu used the term in her 2008 hit, Master Teacher. Woke went viral after officers shot Michael Brown. This injustice left a mark on the Black community. Black people then started using the term woke to gain a consensus. Folks also referred to this group as “the conscious community.”
