The Opposite of Woke is Comatose

And conservatives are losing the culture wars

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has made the word “woke” a key part of his brand, saying things like his state is where “woke goes to die” and conjuring an imaginary “woke mob.” But what does “woke” mean?

When originally coined in the Black community, it meant to be careful of racists and racist systems and laws. The first known recording of the word being used to mean that was in a 1938 Lead Belly song called “Scottsboro Boys,” according to NPR.

Go to Alabama and you better watch out. The landlord’ll get you, going to jump and shout. Scottsboro, Scottsboro boys, tell you what it’s all about. I’m going to tell all you colored people...So I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through Alabama — stay woke, keep their eyes open. ~Lead Belly

The Scottsboro Boys were nine Black boys accused of raping two white woman in one of the most well-known cases of racial injustice in American history. Their case was partly responsible for inspiring the book and movie To Kill a Mockingbird and sparking the Civil Rights Movement. So the term “woke” began as a warning to Black people that their lives are in danger and to stay awake and aware in order to protect themselves.

But to DeSantis, “woke” means whatever he doesn’t like. When he proposed a bill to keep Florida students from learning anything that might make them uncomfortable about American slavery, he titled it The Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act (Stop WOKE), and he’s used it as an insult to criticize the country’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, socialism, “cultural marxism,” transgender legislation, pay equity, family leave, abortion rights, MediCaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), mandatory Covid vaccines in schools, mandatory masks in schools, schools that teach about gender and sexual identity, extra funding for poor schools, books and libraries he deems inappropriate, corporations with Chinese investors, big corporate America, big tech, anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism, the bureaucracy, and academia.

Why the quotes around “cultural marxism?” Because it’s a conspiracy theory and “little more than a racist dog whistle,” according to online newspaper the Daily Dot. That was neatly shown in a now-deleted tweet about it by retired politician Ron Paul featuring caricatures of various races punching Uncle Sam with a communist symbol on their shared red wrist.

It is very hard to explain what cultural Marxism is because the term describes something that doesn’t exist. It refers to a vast conspiracy dating back to the early 20th century in which academics launched a campaign to take over intellectual, cultural, and artistic institutions. Then, they “promoted and even enforced ideas which were intended to destroy Christian values and overthrow free enterprise.” What were these ideas? Feminism, multiculturalism, gay rights and atheism, to name a few.

The problem is that this never actually happened.~Daily Dot

DeSantis prescribes self induced coma

While DeSantis is convincing facist groups like Moms for Liberty that taking away their healthcare, childcare, parental leave, and food support is good “family values,” the rest of the country is moving on, with the majority of Americans veering left over the last two decades on questions about sex, drugs, and abortion, according to “Liberals Have Won the Culture War” by Ryan Burge.

Burge does a deep dive into the stats reported by the General Social Survey, which “collects information biannually and keeps a historical record of the concerns, experiences, attitudes, and practices of residents of the United States.” (Wikipedia)

Burge references far right conservative Pat Buchanan’s speech of 1992 at the Republican National Convention which is credited with starting the “culture wars” which have dominated American politics ever since.

Buchanan and his supporters wanted, at a minimum, to stop the leftward drift that they believed was happening in the United States on social issues. If not push the country in a more conservative direction. Well, I’ve looked at the data from the General Social Survey and it’s clear to me that Christian conservatives failed miserably in this endeavor. On every single social issue, the average American is more liberal today than they were just two decades ago. ~Ryan Burge

Here’s the graph he made of American’s changing attitudes since 1971:

Despite the huge space conservatives take up in the media, the courts, and government, most American people aren’t buying what they’re trying to sell.

• The number of Americans who think extramarital sex is wrong reached a peak at 80% in 1980. In 2018, the number was 75% and in 2021 it was 64%. But that could be partly due to the way the survey was conducted, Burge says.
• Only 12% of Americans were in favor of same sex marriage in 1988. In 2021 the number was 74%.
• Throughout the 1990s, the number of Americans who believed marijuana should be legalized stayed stable at around 20%. But it doubled to 40% by 2010 and is 75% today.
• About 40% of Americans wanted to make pornography illegal for the decades leading up to the turn of the century. That number dropped to 30% in 2010 and 25% in 2021.
• The people who think women should have access to abortion for any reason numbered 40% in the 1990s. Between 2010 and 2021 it increased to 54%.

All this leads me to back to my original question. What does DeSantis have against being awake and aware?

Most people want to see the truth of what’s going on around them and take action to address social problems, not cover their eyes and ears and pretend things are fine as they are — or were better 70 years ago when more racist, sexist and homophobic systems were in place.

People want more rights, not less. More autonomy, not less. More freedom, not less. We’re grownups, and we’re not looking for a Daddy figure to “fix” things.

Yet the loudest, rudest, and most backwards members of the GOP (GOblin Party) want to be just that — a Daddy limiting people’s rights while propping up the corrupt systems which are threatening our planet and every living thing on it.

It’s time to stop fooling yourself, Ron. It’s time to get woke. The opposite is just a self-induced coma.

Besides writing about movies, books, women, mental illness, and politics on Medium, I edit the feminist publication Fourth Wave and I’ve published two novels here: Thirsty Work and Count All This. If you need a membership for access, use my referral link before Sept. 1 to make me happy. And if you’re a writer with a passion for equality, submit to Fourth Wave.

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