So it’s not exploiting the market of people who want to support local farmers, it’s just false advertising. By that logic the claim of “black-owned and operated” means it’s black owned and operated, nothing more and nothing less.
If it were to come out that a restaurant claimed to be black owned but was actually run by a white dude, by your logic that wouldn’t be a flimflam artist trying to make a fast buck by exploiting the market of people who go out of their way to support black-owned businesses, it would just be false advertising.
If it wasn’t clear, I take the position that “woke” can be used and is used as a pejorative without being so loosely defined as to encompass literally anything and be meaningless. My impression of Banquet_Bear’s position, and it seems yours too, is that you aren’t interested in any definitions of woke that can apply to something like how restaurants advertise the sourcing of their ingredients. Perhaps you, too, reject out of hand any definitions that apply to COVID-19 vaccines, or to policies designed to address climate change. If so we have nothing to discuss. All three have been described to me, in verbal conversation, as “woke”, and as a precondition to debate I would require any definition to encompass those subjects because that reflects the usage I experience.
Assuming there is still a debate to be had over the definition of ‘woke’, I think the best way to prove or disprove a definition is to see if it matches use cases.
This was my definition:
My personal experience is that most of the time, when someone uses woke as a pejorative, they mean behavior which, whether misguided or with deceptive intent, appears to be progressive but doesn’t actually accomplish good.
I should note that when I wrote “progressive” there, I literally meant something that improves society, without the ironic connotations sometimes attached to “progressivism” in America.
Here are a couple nonexhaustive lists. Imagine you are a stereotypical American conservative. Take your working definition of ‘woke’ and see how it fares:
Things usually derided as ‘woke’
Health/COVID-19
- vaccination policies
- masking policies
- distancing/curfew/lockdown policies
Environmental/Climate Change
- paper straws
- gas taxes
- all-electric pledges
- greenwashing
Children/School
- critical race theory,
- children’s media depicting same sex couples,
- pulled Dr. Seuss books,
- gender affirming care,
Organization/Workplace
- banning words / political correctness,
- diversity policies percieved as unreasonable,
- pronouns in emails and online profiles,
- sign-language interpreters,
Displays/Social Justice
- Black Lives Matter apparel/signs/decals,
- #MeToo* apparel/signs/decals
- I Stand With Ukraine* flags/apparel/signs/decals,
- Pride* flags/apparel/signs/decals,
- Celebrities using their celebrity status to draw attention to social causes
Business/Consumer Behavior
- going out of your way to buy from minority-owned* businesses,
- conscientious consumerism in general,
- lending practices that favor minorities*,
- pledges to improve minority* communities,
- politically correct rebranding (Land O Lakes, Aunt Jemima, etc.)
- going out of your way to represent women/people of color/people with disabilities/etc in your projects
* The affected group wouldn’t be called ‘woke’ for supporting their own causes or issues. See negative use cases, below.
Things not usually derided as ‘woke’
- Bad weather
- Traffic jams
- Loud neighbors
- Rival sports teams
- Inflation
- Annoying voices
- Speaking a foreign language
Health/COVID-19
- Getting vaccinated, personally
- Masking, isolating when sick
- Going out of your way to eat organic because you think it tastes better
- Planning diet around allergies and intolerances
- Doing what is necessary to care for or protect yourself/loved ones
Environmental/Climate Change
- Firefighting
- Beach cleanups / conservation
- Air quality / smog ordinances
- Recycling programs
- Forest conservation measures
- Wildlife conservation measures
- Natural gas
- Going paperless due to convenience as opposed to purported environmental reasons
Children/School
- Math (DeSantis capitalized on the fact that Math isn’t considered woke)
- Pledge of allegience
- Teaching that slavery was the predominant driver of the civil war
- Colorblindness
- Sunday school
- Laws restricting gender affirming care
- Laws differentiating school facilities by sex assigned at birth
Organization/Workplace
- Diversity policies percieved as reasonable (i.e. no office romance)
Displays/Social Justice
- Flying an American flag
- Flying a State flag
- Neighbors who fly a Confederate flag, even if you don’t like it
- A gay couple flying a Pride flag at their own house
- Military signage or decals because you or a loved one are/were in the military
- Flying a POW flag or decals because you or a loved one were once a prisoner of war
- Visible religious symbols (Christianity, but also any other religion)
- The act of displaying electoral signage or decals
- Unconditional charity
Business/Consumer Behavior
- Buying American
- Buying local
- Going out of your way to eat at a Mexican restaurant because you like Mexican food
- Going out of your way to frequent businesses due to good service, which happen to be minority-owned businesses
- Special efforts to better a minority community one belongs to
- Sin taxes on alcohol, cigarettes
~Max