How refreshing to read such an insightful piece in Rhetoric & Reason (“You can call me ‘woke,’ but I prefer ‘wide awake,'” Feb. 23)! When the term “woke” first started being bantered about by right-wing nutjobs, it was my husband who first reminded me that it was progressive 19th century Republicans who established the “Wide Awake” movement to promote human rights.
Now, Trump and his “evangelical” acolytes want to “Take America Back.” This slogan reads like an incomplete sentence to me. Just what do the MAGA minions want to “take America back” to?
Jim Crow style segregation?
Internment camps for Asian-Americans?
The “ethnic cleansing” of the remaining Native Americans?
Corporal punishment when a child uses a language other than English in school?
Codifying that a woman has no voice in procreating?
Whitewashing all of the above from America’s history textbooks?
I bid you all: Stay wide awake!
Lisa Casillas-Siemsen
Orcutt
This article appears in Mar 2-12, 2023.
I applaud the use of the term “woke”. It makes it easy for normal people to mock and parody all the ” over the top” stances of the perpetually crazed progressives, as it summarizes their lunacy in just one, universally recognized term.
Mr.Donegan,
It wasn’t “the perpetually crazed progressives” who stormed our nation’s capital on Jan. 6, 2021!
THANK YOU, Lisa Casillas-Siemsen. You have identified some of the most salient issues that are haunting our nation as we confront the MAGA crowd: Racism, intolerance, s complete ignorance about women’s reproductive rights… I am especially troubled by the MAGA assault on our teaching of history; we who have been teaching that subject for decades need to fight back. We must address the contributions of the many diverse groups that want to, and should be, considered Americans. Stay wide awake!
Tina, it was the “woke” who murdered, and burned and looted our cities during the Summer of 2020. Unlike the 1/6 riot, which was condemned by most conservatives, the BLM riots were widely applauded by the “woke”, who demanded that we all pledge our fealty to BLM by taking a knee.
Ms. Casillas-Siemsen, who might want to remember that it was Democratic icon FDR who ordered the internment of the Japanese Americans, and left wing hero Earl Warren who help implement it while he was governor of California. And, of course, the Democrats were the party of segregation, Jim Crow and slavery.
“And, of course, the Democrats were the party of segregation, Jim Crow and slavery.”
Blah, blah, blah. The last 60 years have changed that. It was a Democratic president who pushed through the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Those rights, especially voting rights, have been whittled away by Republicans and a conservative SCOTUS for several years now. More than 80% of African-Americans vote for Democrats. What, are they stupid?
A semantic quibble: 1/6 was NOT a “riot”, it was an “insurrection.” An armed mob sent by then President Trump to attack Congress while in session in order to stop the counting of electoral votes. Yes, there were violent “riots” at some BLM demonstrations, although I did not personally witness any rioting at the marches I attended in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara during the summer of 2020.
Of the 20,000 or so demonstrators on 1/6, only a few hundred rioted, so 1/6 was “mostly peaceful”, and to be consistent, we have to refer to the 1/6 rioters as ” demonstrstors”.
John donegan….thankyou for your responses to the lunitic left that populates slo….they can’t hold a candle to your responses….it’s enjoyable….. thanks again!!
It’s just another example of social bullying by certain individuals with political power or status. Ron DeSantis is good example that has made “woke” a dirty four letter word, by use of media and public office. The Florida governor certainly doesn’t seem to think people of color deserve equal accommodation, at least not in the workplace or voting poll stations. Similar to folks that are quick to accuse someone of “playing the race card.” Interestingly, it seems to me that the poorer they are, the more they socially bully others. I suppose it’s human nature to try to stop others from getting a place at the table, especially when they only recently got theirs. But there is more than one table to sit at, like ones that require manners and etiquette. As the Queen would say, privilege should be silent, never heard.