# Defining "woke"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-woke/981220>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 15, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-woke/981220 "2023-03-15T14:43:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 324

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-woke/981220/324 "2023-03-21T17:52:59Z")

</div>

> [@steronz](#):
>
> Is that a misguided attempt to be progressive but fails to accomplish anything good?

It depends on who you ask. I’m guessing a good number of conservatives would say banning the confederate flag doesn’t accomplish anything good, overall. The question is whether it is more good for society to ban the flag and risk bothering the racists and lost causers ever so slightly, versus not ban the flag and continue to bother people of color.

As for me personally, I don’t follow NASCAR but I see how it could bother some people of color.

> [@Should Confederate Flags be banned from NASCAR events?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-confederate-flags-be-banned-from-nascar-events/855321/4):
>
> You won’t see me complaining. I’m sympathetic to those who want to preserve symbols of the Confederacy as reminders of history, not those who appropriate them as symbols of pride. There’s no need to fly that flag in a sporting event. ~Max

You would use similar analysis for the question of whether it is ‘woke’ to remove confederate statues. It comes down to whether removing the statue appears to improve society, but actually doesn’t.

~Max

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-woke/981220)._