Opinion: Terry Sarten talks wokeness and the implications it has on rights

Terry Sarten discusses wokeness.

Opinion

We hear about the denigration, the snide put-down of “wokeness” and its supposed threat to social and moral stability.

This is mostly coming from the right-wing fringe. The word “woke” is being used to push back against women’s rights, abortion, any discussion of inequality, race, migration, gender definitions, being gay, immunisation, covid restrictions and banning books.

Woke seems to be anything that challenges a very narrow view of the world. The term “woke” has shifted in meaning. It was voiced in song in 1938 by the musician Huddie Ledbetter – who we know as Lead Belly.

He included the words “best staying woke, keep eyes open” in a song called Scottsboro Boys as a reminder to be awake and alert to the dangers of being a black man in America.

It has had its place in the civil rights movement in the US, again referencing the need to remain awake to racial prejudice and its dangers. The more recent Black Lives Matter movement that followed the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer called for people to be awake/woke to the risk of police action.

In a tactical word switch, we now have elements of the political right using the term “woke” to oppose, by trivialising the values of those campaigning for civil rights and an inclusive society. This is happening here, in the UK, Australia and the US.

In some American states the attack on what is deemed the threat of “woke” by Republican politicians has parallels with the Taliban - the diminishing of women’s rights (check), banning books (check), deliberate attempts to delete any reference to gay/ gender diverse people (check) and removing the teaching of the nation’s slave history from schools (US-specific).

This is all voiced as a pushback against all that “wokeness” out there apparently waiting to “take your children”. The US Republican enthusiasm for guns and the weekly death toll for fatal shootings seems at odds with their strident pro-life stance against abortion.

Hey in the US people can shoot each other anytime – even children – but women should not be allowed to access legal medical abortion?

We do need to stay awake, recognising that, along with trying to steal the rights of people, this is also a steal of the term “woke” – to turn it against the very thing it means, creating a hollowed-out version that can be filled with intolerance, prejudice and bigotry.

Terry Sarten is a Whanganui-based musician, writer and social worker. Feedback welcome E: tgs@inspire.net.nz Website: https://www.terrysarten.co.nz