# In defence of wokeness

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defence-of-wokeness/922065>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 2, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defence-of-wokeness/922065 "2020-10-02T20:39:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 25

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**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defence-of-wokeness/922065/25 "2020-10-05T23:07:50Z")

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> [@Velocity](#):
>
> I’m sure that most “woke” people have good intentions. But as someone who came from a religious fundamentalist background, a lot of ‘wokeness’ makes me uncomfortable for the same reasons David French pointed out in one of his articles: [“America is in the Grips of a Fundamentalist Revival.”](https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/america-is-in-the-grips-of-a-fundamentalist)
> 
> A lot of wokeness bears uncanny similarity to some religious cults; namely, the belief that there are inherent sins that need to be atoned for, acknowledged, and constantly repented for and self-examined for 24/7 (i.e., white privilege, ingrained sexism or racism, etc.)

Reminds me of this: [Excommunicate Me from the Church of Social Justice](https://www.autostraddle.com/kin-aesthetics-excommunicate-me-from-the-church-of-social-justice-386640/)

I run in very liberal circles. I attended an excellent seminar by this same author on the subject of “compassionate callout culture.” It impressed upon me how much private information people (especially on the internet) feel entitled to when others need to prove their innocence of some wrongdoing. The best example I can think of is when the author of a novel had to out herself as a sexual assault survivor to prove to an angry Twitter mob that she had a right to fictionalize what had happened to her.

Some of these people scare the crap out of me. But it is a bit different dynamic how you are treated within the group vs. as an outsider. At its worst, “stay woke” is a means of controlling people within that subculture. It’s not really meant to be applied to the not-woke, in the same way that confession isn’t meant for non-Catholics.

So… I can sympathize with your point. But I also think mockery of “wokeness” is an easy way for privileged people to ignore real and systemic forms of oppression. I favor some kind of Middle Way - everybody gets to say their part while also bearing the social consequences of what they choose to say. But that’s pretty much how reality already is in the majority of cases.

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