I’m Tired of “Wokeness”

Wokeness. You’ve heard of this term. If you are a member of the Black community, you most likely have come across this term through everyday vernacular and if you are a student of color in college, this word has been thrown around in almost any conversation regarding equality rights and progress for underrepresented individuals in depreciated communities. Wokeness is a mental state coined by people of color declaring knowledge upon the current marginalization of Blacks, women, Latinx, LGBT+, poor, and working-class groups. What may have started out as genuinely powerful philosophy has transformed into a popular term. One that has enforced a mentality that progress is only through performative wokeness rather than different intellectual, conversational, and communal spheres.

I’m tired of “wokeness”. Because those who have used it have used it solely to advance their own purposes. We regurgitate the same information. We select individuals and praise them to push their agenda of “wokeness” that services individualistic people in the group. In the Black community specifically, social justice warriors tend to service straight BLack men the most. Their prerogatives seek to validate and confirm old information. Although this information is important and should be supported. Communities of color specifically Black communities have evolved into popularism and elitism online. Social Justice Warriors are influenced by who follows them as well as their audience. Black culture sells. And social movements are sometimes the sole proprietors of mass profit. If not “woke” individuals are benefitting from social enterprise, they benefit from popularism.

We thrive off popularism – especially within the college atmosphere. Where social media likes, retweets, and reblogs dictate and reinforce our success and popularity. As fluid and beneficial social media pages can be i.e. sparking movements like Black Lives Matter, pushing for clemency against wrongly indicted women, and exposing sexual offenders for the world to see, online popularity and social media effects are detracting from real-life conversations, progress and success that would be exhibited in college culture today, all masked in the ideology of wokeness.

However, wokeness has been tested time and time again in the real infringement and harm of certain populations. When media influencers that we love say something against the most popular rhetoric, when we disagree within a marginalized community there is an urge to cast out these people and continue a paradigm of “wokeness”. It’s a hierarchal approach that detracts and limits our conversations on how to fix certain aspects within Black communities. It makes popularism and what is most agreed upon the agenda of engagement instead of encouraging difficult conversations within educational institutions. I am not advocating for limiting knowledge on the difficulties that minority and certain populations go through. Instead, I am advocating for the humanization of these groups. That they are victims of systemic oppressions but also that they can be limiting to their approach of engaging different dialogue across lines. And until we eliminate performative wokeness, we cannot grow our community affairs, detracting from our philosophy of growth and progress.

The Pepsi Challenge (Political Opinions & Social Progress)

Opinions should be innocuous and a matter of preference, and that has not been the case with political opinions. They’ve become so polarizing, that they’ve halted the political progression of this nation. Something no opinion should do. 

Have you ever been to a restaurant and the waiter asks for your drink order and you say, “I’ll just have a Coke?” The waiter sometimes responds, “I’m sorry, we only have Pepsi products.” With the exception of very rare sticklers to Coke products, almost everyone will simply order a Pepsi without giving it much thought.  Why? Because while most people prefer either Coke or Pepsi, it doesn’t prohibit them from enjoying a nice cold fizzy drink if their favorite isn’t available. No one is going to leave a restaurant for the protest of Coke products when the restaurant only has Pepsi products. You like Coke over Pepsi or Pepsi over Coke, yet your opinion on the soda is inconsequential and you have no problem drinking the similar alternative.

The current US political climate has allowed people to have political stances, stances that are quite damaging under the guise of “opinions.” 

Even more dangerous, opinions have superseded actual facts.

From the revisionist historical narrative that the American Civil War was fought over “states rights” and not slavery to holding dear to the belief President Obama was a Muslim (as if that would have been a bad thing anyway), their opinions have become shields for bigotry, thus the extreme polarization of issues. 

Related: Diplomacy and War: Know the Difference

Recent news has been filled with such opinions of Black Lives Matter vs all lives matter… maintaining confederate statues vs removing confederate statues… and the latest debate… how do people feel about Colin Kaepernick and the NFL player protests. “Opinions” on these issues mentioned above, specifically from those who identify as Conservative/Trump base, unequivocally go against a cause or people that have been wronged. 

“That’s just my opinion” simply isn’t valid for wanting to uphold honoring public places for a treasonous faction like the Confederate States of America. That “opinion” fuels the opposition and it’s a shield for an appreciation of the Confederacy, which you know… attacked the United States to uphold slavery. 

Yes, it seems as if this article is a dig at Conservatives/Trump base. For starters, you catch on quick; and second, yes, you are correct. Conservatives have become entrenched on opinions that side with the wrongdoing of marginalized people. Liberal or Conservative extremism is bad; however, Conservative extremism seems to be furthering the political divide in this nation for their relentless defense of bigotry and being anti-social progress

I want to do my part with those burning their Nikes… worried about Hillary Clinton emails… and seeing the need to honor Generals of a nation that went to war with their countrymen and attempted to secede from the United States. I offer you all a Coke and a smile… and if you don’t yell, “It’s disrespectful to the flag,” I’ll even see if I can get you a Pepsi. 

Trump is NOT a Racist… He’s Worse

Trump might NOT be a Racist… He could be something worse.

Trump appears to be a megalomaniac who unconditionally supports whatever group or individual who supports him. 

So far, he has targeted the most fanatical and unwavering groups of voters: 

-Pro-Gun

-Anti-Immigrant

-Pro-Religious Freedom

-Anti-LGBTQ

-Pro-Police (Regardless of Brutality)

-Anti-Black Lives Matter

-Pro-Military Expansion

-Anti-Globalism

-Pro-Big Business

-Anti-Government Programs

-Pro-Birth

-Anti-Planned Parenthood

-Anti-Tax the Rich

-Anti-Universal Health Care

He targets these people because he knows that:

1. They will never waver in their support for him, regardless of his egregious mistakes.

2. They are very disciplined voters. 

Only 58% of Americans voted in 2016. That means Trump only needs 29.1% of the country to support him and actually vote. Trump does not care if 70.8% of the country is for or against an issue, so long as his positions line up with the 29.1% of people who will definitely vote for him (his base). 

But to think that Trump is a racist because he supports the Alt-Right or other blatantly racist organizations is a mistake. Trump supports anyone or anything that supports HIM.

If everyone in the Black Lives Matter movement supported Trump and voted for him unconditionally, he’d say (and at least pretend to do) whatever they wanted him to. As it were, Trump does not see this group as obtainable, loyal to him, or worth pursuing so he goes after the lower hanging fruit: the fanatical, simplistic White Nationalists who don’t require much persuading to gain full support (just some coded, “dog whistle” type statements that they hear loud and clear as supporting their cause while everyone else is skeptical of the true meaning).

If Trump knew that he’d be unconditionally backed by:

-Pro-Gun Law Reform

-Pro-Immigrant

-Anti-Religious Infiltration of Public Institutions

-Pro-LGBTQ

-Anti-Police Brutality/Discrimination

-Pro-Black Lives Matter

-Anti-Military Imperialism

-Pro-Globalism

-Anti-Big Business Monopolies/Deregulation

-Pro-Government Programs

-Pro-Planned Parenthood

-Pro-Taxing the Rich

-Pro-Universal Health Care

He’d support THOSE groups instead… (in other words, he’d be Hillary Clinton: another megalomaniac who definitely could have been the subject of this writing had SHE won).

This recent DACA flip-flop is remarkable evidence of Trump’s neglect for any real values and gravitation towards whatever he thinks will make him appear more favorable. Perhaps he doesn’t feel supported by the anti-Dreamers in the GOP as they have not helped him create any meaningful legislation since taking office. Consequently, Trump sees a victory for himself as siding with the Democrats who support DACA because together they might create the first success of his tenure in office (even if he completely trashes a hallmark value of his campaign and Presidency: getting undocumented immigrants out of the country). 

But this is the dangerous thing about power and politics. These men and women don’t necessarily believe in anything. They just want your vote, your money, your supportive social media posts, and your shaming and harassing of the people who oppose them. Maybe integrity, honesty, and consistency should rank above policy when choosing the next leader of our country. 

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“Patriotism Is A Dirty Word”

When I was asked to define my patriotism, I initially laughed. I honestly can’t tell you the reason I laughed other than realizing the word patriotism makes me feel uncomfortable, but I couldn’t really explain why. Then I thought about it, and I remember when I officially broke up with patriotism.

Back in August 2016, NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem before a game. Social media was going nuts, and I remember seeing a post on my timeline about Kaepernick being a coward and a disgrace. The post went on to say that Kaepernick’s actions were basically a spit in the face to true patriots like Pat Tillman. To refresh your memory, Pat Tillman was the military vet who turned down an NFL contract to enlist in the military after 9/11.

Please don’t get me wrong. I have so much respect for the women and men of the military. Anyone who is willing to take the chance and sacrifice their life and the life of their family to defend others deserves our utmost respect. They put their own wellbeing in the hands of a government they individually may or may not agree with; yet, they follow orders to protect our lives. That’s amazing.

However, I also think it’s amazing that someone like Colin Kaepernick is willing to put his own well-being on the line for a cause that was sensationalized, and then ignored. The Black Lives Matter movement was like a pawn to the media. They used it for clicks and views and then when the story died down, they moved on to the next. Kaepernick was using his platform to bring awareness in the simplest way and now he’s not only out of a job, but they called him names and belittled his character. All because he didn’t stand for a song that is itself racist! (Reference to Francis Scott Key and the third stanza of the Star-Spangled Banner.)

I don’t think patriotism is an inclusive word. Patriotism in my mind is the nemesis of progress. I recently heard someone call Mitch McConnell a patriot, and that honestly made me laugh out loud. Is this the same Mitch McConnell who was considered an obstructionist during the Obama administration? If you ask me, he should be the face of patriotism.

Now I know why my face twists up when I hear the word patriotism. It’s because the examples I’ve seen of patriotism are always used to belittle someone who’s trying to make progress. It’s kind of like a dirty word. I could also just be one of those millennials. You know… the ones who don’t like to be labeled or put into a box. It’s not that I hate the word; I’m just ambivalent about it. Instead of celebrating the Patriots, I’ll celebrate the humanitarians, the people who put others first. That seems more American to me.  

Similar Read: American Democracy: A Paradox