Good article. I’m here to disagree because that’s how the Penguin rolls sometimes. I see ‘woke’ as a three phase thing, the first phase as you’ve identified was used within the Black community, and was then hijacked by well-meaning, mostly white liberals.

Now I believe those liberals were well intentioned. They looked at themselves and they did the work (sometimes) and they became allies. I’d put people like Tim Wise in that camp about 50% of the time.

The third phase is the more insidious. That was the hijacking and dissemination of the word across multiple facets of society under the banner of ‘social justice’ - and without defining the parameters of that social justice. The word was then taken from the black community and the liberals and used by niche interest groups who are not liberal by any stretch of the imagination. The word is now used by those who would mandate change and who cannot brook dissent.

The radical left and the radical right are both obsessed with identity. The right via nationalism, the left via social justice. Each group claims the other is the villain and each uses their slur ‘woke’ and ‘fascist’. Neither group recognises they have more in common with each other than they do with the average moderate.

I say that as someone who was served coffee by a trans-woman this morning, attended a diverse workplace this afternoon and managed not to let anyone’s sexuality ruin my day. Most moderates are liberal in the old style of the word and most of us are bored of it all. The word ‘woke’ needs to be reclaimed by people who can use it properly.

Always a good read and nice to see you pop up on my recommends. :o)