i feel like a useful thing for non-Black people to keep in mind when using the word "woke" is its origin as intrinsically related to Black radicalisation and political energisation. we should always be mindful of this context and let it inform us as to when it's appropriate for us to steal that word, i.e.: never
since this is getting boosted i'll add: "woke" is not a neutral buzzword that non-Black people can neutrally work into our jokes or whatever! actually the process of appropriating and then ridiculing items of Black expression is a commonplace part of the white supremacist system! don't be complicit in this process!
@GhostOnTheHalfShell i'm not sure what you're trying to say here. it's not a matter of intellectual property ownership. White people expropriate words and ideas from Black cultures and then turn them into a way of mocking and demeaning Black people. i'm saying it is bad that this happens, and that we should make an effort to not do it as a conscious part of our necessary work to dismantle white supremacy.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@alex Yeah gays reclaimed queer and Black people may do the same with woke. But white people using woke, especially in humorous or belittling ways, is participation in white supremacy.
TBH I've never seen it used in a positive context by (UK) white folk, only by gammons complaining in newspaper comment sections especially as Black people and LGBT+ folk are culturally asserting themselves more in society at the same time their opponents are actively trying to reboot the 1970s...
@vfrmedia i think the gammons had to come up with a new term for "political correctness", which is such an embarrassing and problematic concept they have to keep coming up with new ways of obscuring what they're talking about. obv "woke" as an epithet has the bonus of an extra layer of racism
@alex@vfrmedia and 25 years ago politically correct meant something entirely different, too. Trump making jokes about disabled people would be politically correct for his fan base, according to the definition from the 1990s.
@geographile@alex right wingers really hate it that they can't be openly bigoted, I was chatting to a friend earlier about some radio station changes in my region and mentioned how Bauer can't openly state they are removing frequencies from a dance music station because the listeners are poorer, younger and from minority groups (as Ofcom won't accept it) so they have to hide it in spreadsheets and business plans and use market forces (and Ofcom did let them change the frequencies)
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