Originally it meant what it sounds like: to be awake and alert about what is really going in around you, and not being pulled into a false sense of security or fooled by propaganda. This is as old as the 1930s, then got repopularized by Eryka Back in the 90s. There were some minor Menes about it like “wake up sheeple!” poking fun at truthers, or “woke vs broke”. Sometimes a meme, sometimes legit messaging.

Broke: Racism is over bro, and slavery was a million years ago.

Woke: Racism has gotten more hidden and insidious. There have been systematic changes to keep racial minorities in the poor parts of town with lots of crime, the FBI introduced crack cocaine to inner cities in the 80s, and then fake post racism truthers glorified gangs and the drug trade and praised it as “black culture”. Then they proceed to have private prisons and have young black men perform slave labor in jail when they are inevitably arrested, as a way to get around traditional slave labor.”

Then the state of high budget media devolved into what it now is: pandering, fake “woke” garbage with race swapping popular characters. Inevitably this rage baited a lot of people, even minorities that are supposedly being “represented” now. So “woke” became an ironic term to mean “fake woke”, rainbow capitalism as one example.

Then this ironic use got way out of hand and just means “any positive messaging about anything remotely progressive” or “acknowledging that nonwhite males exist sometimes” or even “something that I don’t like”. In a way, this in a way is back to the original meaning. Reactionary conservatives hate anything that breaks them out of their fragile bubble and makes them consider reality for what it is.

Both original meaning and ironic meaning is somewhat usable still, but only if I have already gotten to know someone and where they stand politically and ethically. To have someone I don’t know well bring up the term unprompted in a non joking way throws up red flags.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk