Are You "Woke"? #266
By Hank Silverberg
Conservatives and their Republican friends have come up with a new slogan, or should I say, insult.
Anyone or any policy they don't like or disagree with is now "woke," or someone practicing "wokeism."
So, the right-wing picked up on a phrase sometimes previously used in Black culture and turned "woke" into a dirty word. Dictionaries picked up on the word and provided a definition. But this example from Merriam-Webster goes further in explanation:
chiefly US slang
1: aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)
And the dictionary adds this:
-—often used in contexts that suggest someone's expressed beliefs about such matters are not backed with genuine concern or action
So woke became a substitute for words of a pervious era (a few years ago) like "cancel culture" or "politically incorrect."
It's another attempt by the #MAGA Republicans and their friends to distort the truth and lead people away from reality. They want to convince us all that anyone who doesn't agree with them is wrong.
Let's take a look at the word "woke." Comedian Jeff Foxworthy bolstered his career some years back with a definitive politically incorrect routine about "red necks." It's funny.
"If you own a home that is mobile and 14 cars that aren't, you might be a redneck."
"If you refer to the fifth grade as 'my senior year,' you might be a redneck."
It's exaggeratingly funny, and really no one is offended.
So let me play a little game here to make a point.
"If you know that ACLU is not a new sports league, you might be woke."
"If you know that Social Security is insurance and not a government handout, you might be woke."
Ok, apologies to Mr. Foxworthy. My examples aren't that funny. But you get the point.
Last week I wrote about Republican Congressman James Commer, who claimed the Silicon Valley Bank failed because it was a "woke bank." Ridiculous of course, but to him there had to be another reason for the bank's failure besides the deregulation that took place during the Trump Administration (one of several causes for the failure). He used the current insult--"woke" instead of the trite ones of the past.
With that in mind, here's a challenge for you. The next time you hear someone call something "woke," whether it's a politician or someone else, ask them what the word means. Their stumbling incomprehensible answer is likely to be funnier than a Jeff Foxworthy routine.
One final note here. It is no coincidence that the right-wing picked up slang from Black culture. That way they can use something they think comes from "them" instead of "us."
On The Subject of Race
Here's an interesting story brought to you by our wacky friends in Florida.
A publishing company trying to market a new social studies-science focused textbook that can be
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| (Rosa Parks) |
In the rare case that you don't know her story, in 1955, Rosa Parks, a Black woman, refused to give up her seat on a bus to a White man. It was one of the first resistance efforts in the Civil Rights Movement to gain national attention.
In the first version of this proposed book, the section on Parks does not explicitly mention her race, saying only that she was told to move "because of the color of her skin."
Then, according to the New York Times, a revision of the book didn't mention race at all, referencing Park's resistance:
"She was told to move to a different seat. She did not. She did what she believed was right."
The good news here is that the book was never submitted to the education committee in Florida for possible use. It was withdrawn because of the publicity. But it's a good example of what is happening in an attempt to comply with this very despicable new law.
Jews Popular in the U.S.
That headline in The Washington Times surprised me. I have written several times in the last few months about the rise in antisemitism both here and around the world. The story was based on a new analysis by the Pew Research Center based on interviews with more than ten thousand adults. It found 35% of those they talked to had a favorable view of Jews, while only 6% had an unfavorable view.
That was the highest favorable rating among any religious group. Mainline Protestants had a 30% favorable rating, Catholics 34% and Evangelical Christians with 28% followed behind. Muslims had only a 17% favorable rating while Mormons had only 15%.
The figures were a bit startling when you add in negative reviews. For example, Evangelicals got a 27% unfavorable view and Mainline Protestants a 10% unfavorable reaction.
You can check out more numbers on the chart below.
But take a close look at the chart and you will see something else in these figures.
Fifty-eight percent of those questioned said they didn't know enough to give an answer about Jews, and 59% said the same thing about Mainline Protestants, Muslims and Mormons. The numbers are high in this category for all groups. To me that indicates a reluctance on the part of the respondents to say what they really think.
A report released this past week by the FBI shows a 19.6% increase in antisemitism from 2020 to 2021, which amounts to just over a half of all religiously related hate crimes. And this report includes only actual incidents and not the virulent verbal attacks that occur daily on social media.
Giant Seaweed Blob Attacks Our Shores!
No, this is not a 1950's science fiction movie starring a young Steve McQueen.
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| (Courtesy gcrl.usm.edu) |
The unnatural growth has been spawned by runoff of phosphorus and nitrogen from human activities such as agriculture and fossil fuel production.
The Sargassum can be harmful to people since it contains arsenic, and the gas it emits when it rots contains hydrogen sulfide that is toxic and can cause respiratory problems.
There may be some hope here, though. There has been research and experiments on turning some algae into fuel which could turn costly cleanup into a moneymaking project. It's not clear if that will work with Sargassum.
(An apology to my readers. A technical problem on Sunday delayed distribution of this blog.)
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