The Republican Obsession With ‘Woke’: Decoding Its Real Meaning
There’s a “war on woke” on the 2024 GOP campaign trail, but the term has a deeper history and meaning beyond the current culture wars. “Woke” is a word that’s hard to miss in the Republican presidential campaign.
Republicans use it as a catch-all term to criticize various progressive ideas they oppose, such as teaching about racism in schools, gender transition policies, or certain books in libraries.
However, the term didn’t originate with Republicans or the recent culture wars.
“It comes from Black culture,” explained Elaine Richardson, a professor of literacy studies at Ohio State University. Richardson co-authored a paper on the word’s use in the Black Lives Matter movement.
“In simple terms, it means being politically conscious and aware,” she said. “Like ‘stay woke.'”
Despite its origins, Republicans have taken over the phrase, making it central to the GOP primary.
“We have made Florida the state where woke goes to die,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said recently. “The woke mind virus represents a war on merit and achievement.”
DeSantis often repeats this message.
No other candidate focuses on being anti-woke as much as DeSantis, mentioning the word at nearly every campaign stop.
As governor, he implemented conservative policies branded as anti-woke. After his reelection last fall, he made it a key part of his messaging, foreshadowing his presidential bid.
“We have embraced freedom, maintained law and order, protected parents’ rights, respected taxpayers, and rejected woke ideology,” DeSantis said during his victory speech. “We fight woke in the legislature, schools, and corporations. We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.”
He frequently repeats this on the campaign trail, pushing other candidates to use the term too.
Former President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t like the term but has used it repeatedly himself.
“I don’t like the term woke because I hear woke, woke, woke, you know, it’s just a term they use,” Trump said. “Half the people can’t even define it.”
Yet, he used it multiple times in a town hall on Fox News.
“A lot of things are happening with our military, with the woke and all this nonsense,” he said. “They’re not learning to fight and protect us. They want to go woke.”
Other candidates also don’t like the focus on the term.
“I believe the president should focus on important issues, not every culture war topic,” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
He’s not alone but is in the minority in his party and has minimal support.
Former tech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy has written two books on it, arguing against diversity-based hiring and socially conscious investing by companies.
“I think it divides us by telling us we’re nothing more than our inherited characteristics,” he argued on CNN.
The word has a long history.
“Woke” was used in Black protest songs dating back to the early 20th century. Its origins are debated, but in 1938, singer Huddie Ledbetter, known as Lead Belly, used the phrase in a recording to warn of potential racist violence against Black people in the South.
“I advise everybody, be careful when they go through Alabama—stay woke, keep their eyes open,” Ledbetter said, believed to be the first audio recording of someone using the phrase “stay woke.”
The Scottsboro Boys were nine Black teenagers accused of raping two white girls in a case seen as one of the worst examples of racist legal injustice. It helped spur the civil rights movement and inspired “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
“It comes from Black people’s experience of being aware of the politics of race, class, gender, systemic racism, and inequality,” Ohio State’s Richardson said.
The phrase became popular again in 2008 after Erykah Badu’s song “Master Teacher.” Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, used it in his song “Redbone” in 2016.
At times, the word has been used jokingly on social media.
Modern Black activism and the Black Lives Matter movement used it widely as a rallying cry.
“The Black Lives Matter generation put the word back in popular consciousness,” Richardson said. “The word reached another level of popularity with people saying ‘stay woke.’ That hashtag was popular.”
There’s a straight line from Black Lives Matter activists to Republicans using it now. For conservatives, the protests and violence were emblematic of what they don’t want to see in the country.
It’s been seen throughout American history, including during the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
“People interested in keeping social inequality control language and ideas,” Richardson said. “It’s stripping Black people of their history and identity.”
She warns that how Republicans use the phrase could lead to violence, like recent cases where Black people were shot for knocking on a door.
“It promotes anti-Blackness, stratification, and fear. That’s very dangerous,” Richardson argued.
Conservatives don’t see it that way and will likely continue using it on the campaign trail. Badu was asked about Republicans using the phrase, particularly DeSantis’ quote that “Florida is where woke goes to die.”
“I think they mean Black,” she said on MSNBC. “It’s another way to say ‘thug.’ It doesn’t belong to us anymore. Once something goes out into the world, it takes on a life of its own.”
