Oklahoma Woke... [View all]

Recently rejected letter to the Tulsa World...

We’ve all been hearing the term “woke” these days, usually used as a derogatory, yet vague term by certain politicians and media types. Woke seems to have become an all-purpose slur.

Oklahoma Republicans follow the script as often as they can. From Sen. Lankford’s website: “Oklahoma parents are tired of the woke ideology being pushed on their kids.” Sen. Mullin tweets that Democrats are a “part of this woke movement that wants to censor everyone…“ “Gov. Kevin Stitt won reelection…a major plank of his platform was taking on ‘woke’ banks.” Sec. Ryan Walters’ tweets about an inclusive black Santa for minority kids: “No woke Santa this year” with a smiley face.

And what is “woke” aside from the past tense of “awaken” which ironically, seems to still apply? From Wikipedia: Woke (/ˈwoʊk/ WOHK) is an adjective…meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination". From Merriam-Webster: “Aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”

Who wouldn’t want to be woke? To be woke, a person must tolerate folks different than oneself, considering their points of view. Wokeness requires a maturity to realize that not everyone looks or thinks the same, and then be okay with it.

So what is the opposite of woke these Republicans seem to prefer for themselves? I first thought maybe “asleep.” Further research indicates the antonym of woke is “ignorant.”