In recent times I’ve increasingly come across the weaponisation of the concept of ‘wokeness’. So called conservatives have aimed to degenerate and demonise this term in attempts to point to ‘progressives gone mad’. Peter Dutton only recently expressed the intention to ‘crackdown on wokeness’ in Australian education systems. However, when asked to explain what this actually referred to he was deliberately vague and ambiguous. The best anyone on his campaign could come up with when referencing these so-called dangers was that university students were being forced to perform acknowledgement of country addresses before presentations…..?
In actuality, I highly doubt that people who are negatively flinging this term around, including said prime ministerial candidate, actually understand the origins of the term ‘woke’, or if they do, maybe they just don’t care. The term woke itself began as a watchword for African Americans referring to the need to demonstrate awareness of racial prejudice and discrimination; specifically in terms of watchfulness against police brutality and unjust police tactics. The concept gained widespread recognition after the 2014 death of Michael Brown and with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. It therefore represents an action to a very real threat and promotes the idea of black consciousness and waking up to systems of entrenched racism and oppression.
The concept behind ‘stay woke’ is a key one within Black history yet the term is derogatively flung around by ‘conservatives’ who know nothing of its origins; or have experienced the systems of oppression which reinforce them. How easy it is to dismiss something that one has never experienced by the very virtue of their privilege. I will remind everyone that just because you haven’t experienced something based off your own lived experience, doesn’t mean that others haven’t and that it doesn’t exist. As explained within a study undertaken by the University of Auckland “the appropriation of the term ‘woke’ by the political right diminishes the struggle of African American people and people of colour who feel the need to be watchful”. I would go further than this and say that the safety of these groups relies on the need to be watchful, not just the urge to do so.
It’s easy to see parallels of this for all people of colour in arenas in which we are the minority; which in Australia is almost every situation we walk into. I was recently trying to explain what it felt like to consistently have to operate in these spaces. For me I will always consider the dynamics of any room or space I walk into. This means that I am constantly recalibrating trying to assess for racist undertones, microaggressions or even outright racism or threats to my safety. And before you dismiss this as being unnecessary, I’ll share with you that there have been many instances throughout my lifetime where this perceived threat has become a reality. I am always careful of the things I verbally express in these spaces, so as not to set the majority into areas of discomfort where I become a target. This is my reality each and every day living in Australia, as it is for any person of colour in this country. I am always vigilant when I enter into unknown spaces, it’s become second nature to me and this is difficult to explain to someone who has the privilege of never having to enact these protections.
What’s become inherently obvious is that it’s difficult to explain how important the concept of ‘wokeness’ is within a society which was built on systemic and entrenched racism. A society that baulks at the mere concept of paying tribute to the traditional owners of the lands on which we live today, who by the way never ceded their sovereignty. It’s hard to counter people who refer to wokeness as over the top PC-ness when they have never experienced the type of oppression that the term attempts to protect against. Because the truth is for so many people of colour, especially those of us who live ‘Global North’ countries we have no choice but to be ‘woke’; we have to be awake, to be watchful against the elements of entrenched and systemic racism that are part of our everyday lives.
When it comes to the term of wokeness itself, if any of you are out there are weaponising it and you are not a person of colour; please do your research. I beg for you to understand that to be ‘woke’ has evolved from the specific warning about prejudice and discrimination to a deeper understanding of structural or institutional racism, and the disadvantages faced specifically by African-Americans in the US, but also to BIPOC in Global North countries, and the various social barriers to their wellbeing that is caused by this. Barriers to which continue to exist so please stop using this term completely out of context and acknowledge your own privilege in even being able to do so.
I blog for Change. 