Woke: What It Truly Means and What It Doesn't Mean

I've been sitting on this for a long time...a long time. It's time we had a talk about this. It's been out there, big time, in the public eye for about three years, but it goes much much farther than that. You know what I'm talking about. The four letter word that is said with passion by some, and disdain from others. Let's talk about that word, shall we? Woke.

"Woke" has been the word of the day quite a bit lately. A lot of people know what it means. A lot of others think they know what it means. A lot of people have warped viewpoints about it, and hurl the word like it's a four-letter expletive. I just want to get this out in the open, get down to business, and put any and all doubts to bed here, because this needs to be discussed. It's time for the proper education of what "woke" really is, and what "woke" really isn't, and why that term is so vital to society.

First off, let's discuss what "woke" truly means

Awareness

Simply put, if you're woke, then you are fully aware of any and all issues that face minorities. Despite writing this, even I figured that "woke" or "wokeness" started as recently as about three years ago and only went as far back as over a decade ago. It's actually been around in some form for over a century, but the earliest exact use of the term came from a blues singer named Huddie Ledbetter, who was known as Lead Belly. His song, Scottsboro Boys, centered on nine young Black men (ages 13-20) who were falsely accused of raping a pair of White women in Scottsboro, Alabama. A rushed trial saw all but 13-year-old Roy Wright convicted and sentenced to death, and in the 1938 recording of the song, Lead Belly uttered the following:

"I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there; best stay woke, keep their eyes open."

That's basically what "woke" is, especially in this current day. Awareness of any and all racial injustices. Acknowledgements of unfair treatments hurled towards minorities, as acknowledgements of any existence of bigotry. The term does have a long history, but it received its biggest spotlight due to the horrifying trend of racially charged fatal killings from police officers; with victims including (but sadly, not limited to), Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and George Floyd.

Opportunities

Part of the racial discrimination that still exists, even now, center on opportunities, usually in entertainment, sports, or any other avenues. The entertainment world has seen a rise in diverse casting in films and TV, with more Black, Latinx, Asian, and LGBTQ+ representation at the forefront. Diversity like this has been a long time coming; and it's continuing to improve vastly. The sports world has seen a bit of a rise in minority hires in coaching and even in the front office. Half of the eight XFL head coaches are Black, but one such historic moment centers on the man pictured above.

The man in the photo is Mike Grier, who played 15 years in the NHL for four teams (Oilers, Capitals, Sabres, and Sharks). I remember watching him with the Oilers; he was one of three Black players on that team, along with Anson Carter and Georges Laraque. On July 5, 2022, Grier became the general manager of the San Jose Sharks; becoming the NHL's very first Black GM. I mentioned Anson Carter; he's currently an analyst for TNT. Kevin Weekes can be seen on the NHL Network in that same position, same with P.K. Subban on ESPN, and we've also seen women serve as analysts and broadcasters, such as Leah Hextall (whose cousin is legendary goaltender--now GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins--Ron Hextall), Cassie Campbell-Pascall, AJ Mleczko, and Jennifer Botterill.

So that's what woke is; awareness of the racial issues that continue to exist, as well as opportunities for minorities that have been long overdue. Here, however, is what woke isn't:

"Forced"

Woke is not "forced" on us. Despite the continued progress in society, there's always some group who feels that all of the positive steps forward are being "forced" on us by a so-called "woke mob." You know what the "woke mob" and Tom Brady's GOAT status have in common? They only exist in the minds of delusional idiots. Society isn't perfect, but we've made so many steps forward when it comes to inclusivity and racial harmony, but that select group continues to complain that it's "forced."

There's a reason I chose the Washington Commanders logo, and yes, it's Commanders, people need to get used to it and get over it. I mentioned this before; while watching highlight videos of the game between the then-named Washington Football Team and the Dallas Cowboys--the game where Washington was mercilessly blown out, I read comments blaming the team's lack of talent that year on them "giving in to the woke mob" by getting rid of the "Redskins" name. Let's see if I have this right. It's not because they didn't have a QB that year. It's not because there was a lot of disarray between the players. It's not because their owner is a toxic idiot. It's not because even I could score on that awful defense. It's none of that.

The reason why Washington sucked that year? They got rid of that racist and offensive name, of course! If they kept that name, they'd win the Super Bowl! And even if that bullshit was true (it's not), they (finally) got rid of the name in 2020. Explain 1992-2019 (the 28 seasons they played under the name since they won Super Bowl XXVI). Can't? Didn't think so.

"Anti-White"

Even worse, some people hear "woke" and see it as an attack against White people. If you double taked in response to that, I don't blame you. But yeah, apparently, if you're "woke," you're "anti-White." If you actually care about racial issues, then you're against White people. If you want POCs to actually have opportunities that have been denied from for so, so long, then you clearly want to "oppress" White people. I swear, the entitlement is so nauseating. A line I heard on Scandal comes to mind, and there's a lot of truth to it: "We have to work twice as hard to get half as much." POCs have to put in a lot of work, but still get way less than our White counterparts. If you ask anti-woke people, the little we get is "too much" for them. Even now, it's like this, everywhere. People complain about anything that's pro-POC, with one example being Halle Bailey being cast as Ariel in Disney+'s The Little Mermaid reboot. However, while I wanted to center on that, I chose to talk about Lamar Jackson, because this topic is personal to me.

For several months, I've said that Lamar Jackson had been on the receiving end of racist treatment from not only football fans, but from the Baltimore Ravens well. Despite the fact that Lamar is basically the whole team, the Ravens refuse to pay him what he's owed, and even worse, racist football fans refuse to see him as a quarterback; rather, they refer to Lamar as a "running back pretending to play QB." Yet Josh Allen, who is White, plays the exact same way as Lamar, but Allen's a QB while Lamar isn't. Here's where the personal part comes in. I've been defending Lamar publicly for months, yet what response do I get? I get accused of being "anti-White" and "hating White people" for calling out the racism against Lamar. That's just sad and disgraceful that people would actually think that.

Again, woke and wokeness are good things. If you're woke, you know about the racial issues that exist in society. If you're woke, then you want opportunities for groups of people who have been marginalized, stereotyped, and screwed over for a long time. It is not forced. It is not a "conspiracy" against White people. The sooner we all realize all of these things, the better we, as a functioning society, will all be.