SEATTLE — How did the word “woke” go from a social justice term to a pejorative insult favored by some high-profile politicians?
Race and equity experts say the word has become so misused, it’s time to get rid of it altogether.
‘Woke’ in politics
You’ve heard it over and over.
“We saw the advent of woke politics,” said Former Vice President Mike Pence at a recent speaking event.
“Here you have a woke company. They've been woke for years,” said Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley at a recent campaign event.
“We will never ever surrender to the woke mob,” said Ron DeSantis, during a campaign event last month.
But what is "woke?"
“I don't like that term, 'woke,' because I hear 'Woke, woke, woke,' you know, it's like, it's a term that half the people can't even define it. They don't know what it is,” said former President Donald Trump this summer at a speaking event.
'Woke' goes way back
“People speak about the word woke as if it's a new word,” said Erin Jones, an educator, author and public speaker.
Jones explained the origins of the word go back 100 years.
“We can see its roots as far back as 1923 and the Black community," said Jones. "Then in the 1940s in jazz music."
The term even showed up in a 1962 New York Times op-ed, titled "If you’re woke, you dig it."
“[The author] talks about how Black folks had their own language within their own communities. And woke was just one of those words, and it was a word to say, ‘Wake up and be aware of what's happening around you. Wake up and understand your history,'” said Jones.
The term has become a political grenade.
“I think now, there's no good way to use that term. I think it's been so weaponized at this point that there was not a positive way to use the word woke,” said Jones.
According to Jones, a word that is supposed to symbolize being aware of racial injustice has turned into a weapon to stop the conversations about racial injustice.
“That word has been taken. And I think it was taken first really by white progressives to say, you know, ‘We are awake to the social inequity, to racial inequity.' But then when that happened, there was a backlash by the right to say ‘Oh you woke people!’ And it was weaponized, then to say anything that is at all socially conscious, as bad,” said Jones.
‘Woke’ on the street
So we took to Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market to find out some other opinions on the term.
“There’s injustices out there. Hey, wake up, and let’s see what’s going on,” said Terrance Stover of Georgia.
“It's liberal. It's ‘anything goes.’ And I just don't think our country's gonna sustain itself on ‘wokeism,'” said Dawn Boyle of New York.
“I think it's an enlightenment or opinions that we didn't necessarily grow up with. The new way of looking at sexuality, race, religion and acceptance that it doesn't have to be the way you think it should be. Just an acceptance of other cultures,” said Christie Thuren of Bainbridge Island.
Most people could loosely define woke but their definitions were influenced by their own political or religious leanings.
“Nobody wants to put themselves out to work. Why [doesn’t] ‘woke’ become ‘work?'” said Boyle.
“If you're a Christian, your ultimate example of being woke is the teaching of Jesus. Was Jesus not woke? Of course, he was. He cared about other people. He was woke,” said George Gorayeb, of Maryland.
Retire 'woke'
Jones says it’s probably time to retire woke.
But she encourages people to question the usage of the word when they hear it. It could stir an appreciation for other perspectives.
“Show up with curiosity, show up with an attitude to learn from them as well," Jones said. "There's a reason these people are really angry about this. There's a reason they have weaponized this term. Can I get to the heart of their reason? Once I can get to the root of that, then we have a foundation we can build on."