Let’s Discuss: Woke Culture

“Stay woke.”

It’s a phrase rooted in Black American history that was intended as a call for people to stay alert to injustice, to see racism clearly, and to understand the systems that hold people back. It was never meant to divide. It was meant to wake people up to what others were living through.

But somewhere along the way, politicians twisted it into what they now call “woke culture.”

Now “woke” is being tossed around as an insult to those who care about everyone. It’s a punchline in campaign speeches. A way to dismiss inclusion, equity, and fairness. Words that should never ever be controversial.

Something I’ve noticed is that it’s not younger generations pushing this backlash. It’s mostly older voices. People who grew up with a version of the world that was comfortable to them. Where norms were rigid and identities easier to label. They seem to be trying to push the world back to what they remember.

But nostalgia is always seen through rose-coloured glasses by the privileged and not, for example, through the eyes of a transgender youth who lived hidden and afraid through the 50s to 70s.

Woke has become about who gets to use which bathroom. Who competes in a race. Who gets jobs and who gets equal pay and treatment. In other words who gets to exist without apology.

It’s about turning some of the most vulnerable groups in society into a talking point for campaigns. And it’s not a concern that’s grounded in crime stats or evidence. It’s cruelty and bias in disguise.

People talk about the cost of being “woke”. In reality the time, energy, and resources being spent to exclude people, ban books, restrict identities, and rewrite laws all cost us more than inclusion ever will. Not just financially but in community and compassion. And in who we become as a country.

There are real conversations to have for sure. About fairness, economic policy and about how we live together. But we won’t find answers in spreading unfounded fear about others. We find them in listening, in learning, and in making space for all.

I know not everyone will agree with this. That’s okay because I’m not trying to speak for everyone here. I’m speaking to something I believe in.

Human dignity is not a trend. And it shouldn’t ever be up for debate.

We can disagree on policy but let’s stop mistaking the comfort of the past for a reason to deny people their future.

If we can’t talk about inclusion without outrage, what exactly does that say about us?

❤️🇨🇦