“Woke”

[DrinkingMyWaterMindingMyBiz]

Sorry, this is a rant, so if you’re trying to keep yourself in a positive mindset or good space today, skip this thread.

I’m sure I can’t be the only one tired of the overuse of this word. I know it’s been co-opted (and misused) outside of the black community for a few years now, but in all honesty I do live in a bit of an echo chamber in real life so don’t have to hear people use it for any and everything all that often. But I’ve returned to MN after a break of a good few years recently to try and get myself out of said echo chamber a bit, and am honestly so sick and tired of seeing people describe (or worse, complain about) everything remotely liberal as “woke”.

I was going to post this on AIBU because my “racist radar” dings excessively whenever I see the term thrown about willy nilly, but decided against it as I can’t be arsed to explain the nuances and history of the word to WW who are adamant it’s “just a word”, so I thought I’d share my rant here instead. Am I being over dramatic here?

@MCOut I have a feeling they’re coming for the LGBT+ community, particularly trans people.

Because naturally they don’t have a failing NHS and a cost of living crisis to focus their attention on. It actually kills me that this is a voting issue.

@MCOut Yep! Smoke and mirrors - the art of British democracy.

Yup! It's one of those words that has been hijacked and used as a slur against the very people it is meant to protect.

Most people who use it as a slur seem clueless and a bit thick..

It was never meant to be used outside of the black vernacular..

@DrinkingMyWaterMindingMyBiz side note, is it only me who is finding it hilarious that a group of minorities with conservative views come into power and suddenly it’s hate speech to call someone a coconut?

Don’t get me wrong, it can be really hurtful but considering all the ways in which we are shut down when we speak up, why is this a thing? Can you just imagine sitting in front of a white policeman hearing a lecture about why you a black person are racist for calling another black person a bounty?

@MCOut omg I nearly posted the exact same thing on here when I saw it. It just really highlights to me that these people literally know no* *“ethnics” in their personal lives. And the amount of white people in their feelings, piping on like “IT’S ABOUT RACE SO IT IS RACIST!” on X was insane. Since when did you care about racism, George6175004 (with the St George’s flag profile picture and the #PROBREXIT in your bio)?

This!!!! It is the lack of self awareness 😂The most outraged people will be those who will whip out the angry black woman/bully stereotype, think MM is the devil or cry woke/ race card. Just try to discuss how racism actually impacts black lives for example the Windrush or the maternity scandal and those same people will stare blankly or blame us. Of all issues…

Or demand “proof” that all of these injustices were purely based on race. But suddenly they care about Rishi and Suella being called coconuts by another south Asian woman? Ok, Gary 🙄

Where was all their concern when the likes of Diane Abbott were facing far worse racial abuse? Oh but I forget, the Cambridge-educated, first black woman MP is "thick as shit" according to the intellectuals of Mumsnet.

@PinotGroggio don’t even get me started on Diane Abbott! How she manages to stick it out (and do a fucking good job of it!) through all the shit she’s dragged through on a daily I’ll never know.

@PinotGroggioYes! It is when you see the graphs of how much abuse she gets in comparison to the rest of them that this really hits home. Comparatively she hasn’t done anything that bad, she didn’t do a Liz Truss and nearly plunge the country into a recession. She didn’t do a David Cameron and promise a referendum. I cannot take the racism allegations seriously when far worse things have been said by Boris Johnson and the rest of them.

Sounds like an oxymoron to me.

It has been co-opted and used by semi-allies / liberals who see a link between racial injustice, social and gender injustice. It has been used as a term of abuse by those who oppose the aims of such people. Are terms such as Zealot, Puritan, Professionally Outraged, Social Justice Warrior better descriptions?

Equally words evolve, the word "gay" did not originally mean homosexual.

It's the social media which is responsible for changing its meaning. There are plenty of ignorant people around the world and social media has made it possible for like minded ignorants to collect and comment on what they don't like, and this word has been wrongly used over and over, and many people now don't know its original meaning.