Yes, I’m ‘woke.’ We can’t rid ourselves of racism if we’re not

I rise today to advocate for the state of being awake. That is, I’m happy to be thought of as “woke,” especially considering the presumed opposite state: “asleep.”

It’s a cliche of news writing to say “Mr. Webster defines” some word as this or that. But I’m talking specifically about one word, and so will put forward the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2017 rationale for including a different definition of “woke” in 2017:

“...by the mid-20th century, ‘woke’ had been extended figuratively to refer to being ‘aware’ or ‘well informed’ in a political or cultural sense,” the OED opined. “In the past decade, that meaning has been catapulted into mainstream use with a particular nuance of ‘alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.’”

So, that’s good, right? As good citizens, and in my view, as people of faith, we want to know about and combat discrimination against people for their race, beliefs, color and sexual or gender presentation. A lot of that is enshrined in law. Just mentioning.

But there’s a whole crew who use “woke” as an insult, as in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s condemnation of Disney as a “woke company.”

This is the same governor who signed the “Parental Rights in Education” bill that limited teaching on sex and sexual orientation, as well as an “Individual Freedom” bill that says in part; “An individual should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race.”

Now, I’m a Tar Heel born and bred and have lived here, in Tennessee or in Texas for my entire life. I love so much about the South, the terrain, the music, the food, most of the people, the same things countless people appreciate.

I say “most of the people” because racial prejudice and oppression definitely have had backers in our region since my birth in 1952, and long before then. As an older white man, I remember seeing separate drinking fountains for Black and white people at the Sears in the former Cameron Village, a wooden barrier for the same purpose at the Seaboard Station, both shadowed by the purposefully slow integration of classrooms during the 12 years I spent in Raleigh public schools.

Through the years, I’ve learned more bitter facts about the treatment of people of color that trace back, of course, to the years when white people were allowed by law to own Black people.

And how do I know this shameful history?

I know it because I’ve tried to become more “woke” to the history and present-day dynamics of race and other prejudices, working to learn as much as I could through conversation, reading, group meetings, and experiences not only in the South, but across our country.

Why would DeSantis and crew want us to sleep through all that?

There is an ideal world in which every American, from kids to increasing numbers of centenarians, is treated equally in schools, hiring, employment, real estate, wealth and salary equity, day-to-day interactions, and general social mobility. But that’s not a reality for all of us — as decades of reporting and daily observation show. And out of all that we worry about someone’s “discomfort” upon hearing this story laid out?

There’s no way to rid our country, our state and our towns of the awful burden of racism without being woke — studying the tracks it has left and continues to lay on us. We should keep our eyes open to avoid the deliberately sleepy path that DeSantis and crew hope that we will take.

This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Yes, I’m ‘woke.’ We can’t rid ourselves of racism if we’re not."