Can anyone explain to me what - Woke - means in relation to societal matters

[Bretrick]

Why has it taken on a negative connotation?

[butterscotch]

From the wiki

Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination”.[1][2] Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities, such as sexism, and has also been used as shorthand for some ideas of the American Left involving identity politics and social justice, such as white privilege and slavery reparations for African Americans.[3][4][5]

The phrase stay woke has history in AAVE as far back as the 1930s, in some contexts referring to an awareness of the social and political issues affecting African Americans. The phrase was uttered in lyrics of recordings by Lead Belly in mid 20th century and post-millennium by Erykah Badu.

The term emerged in the 2010s, and, increasingly, it meant not only racial consciousness but also that of gender, as well as other discriminated identities, originally in the American context. During the 2014 Ferguson protests, the phrase was popularized by Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists seeking to raise awareness about police shootings of African Americans. After seeing use on Black Twitter, the term woke was increasingly used by white people, often to signal their support for BLM, which some commentators have criticised as cultural appropriation. Initially, this wider adoption spread primarily among the young or the millennial generation. As it spread internationally, the term was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017.

By 2020, however, members of the political center and right wing in several Western countries were using the term woke in an ironic way, as an insult for various progressive or leftist movements and ideologies perceived as overzealous, performative, or insincere. In turn, some commentators came to consider it an offensive term with negative associations to those who promote political ideas involving identity and race. Since then, derivative terms such as woke-washing and woke capitalism were coined to describe

Woke

[Ripple]

Woke.
It’s also now often used to belittle by the over opinionated to berate those who don’t share their POV.
Especially used towards the easily offended …
It’s horrible….there I’m probably woke

[Bretrick]

@Ripple

It’s also now often used to belittle by the over opinionated to berate those that don’t share their POV.

It certainly has taken on negative connotations.
Sad that progressives are denigrated so vehemently.

[Bread]

Its liberal fascism.

[swimfeeders]

Hi

It is not a word I like, I find it very overused.

[Boot]

I think the word “woke” is overused and frequently mis-used too.

Woke was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017, defined as
“originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.”

Being ‘woke’ is not an insult – though people often try to manipulate its true definition and use it as an insult, to mock people or shut down discussions about social injustices.

I’ve noticed a marked increase in the level of “playground-style” name-calling insults in political discussions in the last decade too - just about every political group or politician seems to be referred to by insulting Nick-names these days.
It’s a shame folk can’t have a grown up serious discussion without using all these insulting nick-names and unpleasant slang language.

[Maree]

Proud to be woke!

And total contempt for those who try to belittle it out of self-interest, politics and to suit there own agenda and privilege

Being woke means:

“aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”

Surely that’s what all decent human beings should aim to be?

Name calling like “Remoaners” and making “Woke” an insult are the trade mark of right wing populists to cover up their own policy failings and lack of morals or compassion and it’s shameful.

A bit like the shame of being a country that wants to opt out of Human Rights

They concentrate on what they see as the follies of “woke” to distract from the real problems they’ve created and the way they despise and fear anything that demands social justice

And thank the lord for people like Marina Purkiss with te guts to call out the likes of Rees-Moggs for doing just that

Marina Purkiss CLASHES with Jacob Rees-Mogg - 'That's NOTHING to do with Brexit!!'

[Besoeker]

I wish I could understand it in simple terms. Maybe I’m just a simpleton.

[Psmith]

I’ve never taken much notice.I usually disagree with the sort of people who use it as an insult so treat it as nonsense.

[Bretrick]

@Besoeker

I wish I could understand it in simple terms. Maybe I’m just a simpleton.

From what I have been able to glean from asking a multitude of people is; Those people who want change for the better - Woke - are despised by those who want to maintain the status quo.

[Besoeker]

I woke up this morning and perfectly understood the words my dog and I had pleasant conversation.

[Chilliboot]

I have no empathy with the word whatsoever.
I’m still struggling to come to terms with ists and isms.

[Besoeker]

At least it is not me!

[Bruce]

It is just another of those words the feeble minded use when they have no other argument. Joins the list of politically correct, do gooder etc

[7779311]

@Maree

Surely that’s what all decent human beings should aim to be?

I could not agree more

[Maree]

I’m not a fan of Keir Starmer

But I think he got it spot on when he compared the anti-woke movement to Mcarthyism

Keir Starmer's speech to Civil Society Summit – The Labour Party

Whipped up by the likes of the right wing GBNews and Laurence Fox, the Righties are trying to make being woke a dirty secret, to be hidden and denied and ashamed of

Something they will persecute and witch hunt you for

Instead of the fine thing to be proud of that it really is

Because if being Woke is to be……

“aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”

…… what does that say about the morals who think being like that is something to be ashamed of?

Presumably the AntiWoke brigade want us to be ……

“Unaware of and deliberately inattentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”

In other words, self-serving, prejudiced arses like them

Stand proud, Woke people, don’t let them them turn Woke into a dirty word or an opinion you feel you have to play down

[Bruce]

It is an interesting thing that the conservative folk (small c) cannot use the word conservative enough, they talk of “conservative values”, “conservative outlook”, “conservative economics” etc. The word litters their rhetoric.

Yet liberal thinkers (again small l) rarely use the word liberal to describe the way they think or their attitude. It is almost as if they have been conned into thinking “liberal” is a dirty word.