[Critique Group 1] Leonard's comments on Martia's sub

[Leonard Tuchyner]

I have trouble in  finding fault with this piece  because I am so much in accord with it.  

I was always confused when I heard the termwoke mob. 

Thank you for clarifying it. 

This deliberate reversing the meaning of woke is deplorable. 

It is confounding our ability to uselanguage to communicate. 

The piece is well  done. 

Here’s too an awakened populace.

 

Martia sub for March 23

 

 

 

 

Wake Up!

Marcia J. Wick

432words

 

 

What exactly is a“woke mob?” The definition seems to depend on who you ask.

 

The word“woke” in the not-so-distant past was simply the past tense of the verb“wake.” During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Progressive blackleaders began using the term “woke” as slang to refer to people who were aware of and educatedabout important issues regarding racial and social injustice toward minorities.Over the past decade, theterm “woke” was adopted by the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements as asymbol of social courage and advocacy.

 

Within the past twoyears, the right-wing conservative movement has seized the phrase in aderogatory or pejorative way to refer to people who espouse the LGBTQ agenda,the evolution of gender neutral pronouns, and the threat of climate change. TheConservative Political Action Convention (CPAC) blames the “woke mob” fortraumatizing children by teaching them about the history of race relations inthis country, using the government to impose liberal values on others, and cancellingthe culture of privileged white people.

 

The woke mob iseverywhere, according to Fox News.

 

Similarly,the word “mob” historically has referred to a large and disorderly crowd ofpeople…sometimes shoppers…bent on riotous or destructive behavior. Today, right-wing conservativesrefer to mobs as out-of-control liberal radicalspromoting inclusive policies or ideologies that welcome or embrace ethnic, racial,or sexual minorities that threaten the power and privilege of the white (mostlymale) majority.

 

How did a word thatevokes consciousnessand awareness come to be used as a buzzword Weaponizedby the right condemning a set of values different from theirown? Many conservatives can’t define these terms but somehow they’vesucceeded in redefining them. Such disambiguation by rival groups skews themeaning of a word depending on the context in which it is being used.

 

At it’s best,“woke” is a compliment to people who are aware of what’s goingon in their community related to racism and social injustice. At its worst, theword is an insult, rife with condemnation and hate. Politicians and the media further confuse the issue by peppering theircommentary with phrases like the “woke mob,” wokism, or the “woke agenda” when discussingimmigration reform, police brutality, military recruitment, gun control, andcritical race theory. Critical race theory is not a curriculum, it’s aconversation.

 

By banning theconversation, conservatives are whitewashing history, Limiting progress, andfear mongering because they are afraid of change.

 

Change is inevitable.Even the intoxicated Rip Van Winkle eventually woke up to the reality that theworld had changed while he slept. 

 

# # #

 




 
 
Leonard I. Tuchyner, Author
 
https://www.dldbooks.com/tuchyner/

 
  
 
 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://bluegrasspals.com/pipermail/group1/attachments/20230330/8be3ef6b/attachment-0001.htm>