Speaking Politics word of the week: woke
Woke:聽A social media slang term that鈥檚 now found its way into politics; in that context, it signifies being mindful of and connected to a group鈥檚 important concerns.
Enthusing over Hillary Clinton鈥檚 selection of Tim Kaine as her running mate, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as someone who 鈥渋s as decent, honorable, selfless [a] soul as you will ever meet. A man with the heart of a servant, who is 鈥榳oke.鈥� 鈥欌��
Her endorsement provoked a flood of responses from liberals questioning whether the Virginia senator deserved the label because of his stances that they view unfavorably, such as supporting trade deals.
Ms.聽Granholm鈥檚 tweet came as various commentators have been trying to explain 鈥渨oke.鈥� The most popular entry in the Urban Dictionary as 鈥渂eing aware鈥� and 鈥渒nowing what鈥檚 going on in the community.鈥�
But such a definition is 鈥渘ot quite that simple,鈥� said Charles Pulliam-Moore, in Fusion earlier this year. He noted it was popularized as a call to action associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, but that it 鈥渉as taken on a different, more complex meaning鈥� over time.
鈥淟ike most slang, the meaning of 鈥榳oke鈥� changes depending on who鈥檚 saying it, and to whom,鈥� he said. 鈥淎mong black people talking about Ferguson [Missouri], 鈥榮tay woke鈥� might mean something like: 鈥榮tay conscious of the apparatus of white supremacy, don鈥檛 automatically accept the official explanations for police violence, keep safe.鈥� 鈥�
Now that its popularity has spread, he added, the word 鈥渉as slowly morphed into something that occasionally comes across as a derogatory jab at the very idea of staying 鈥榳oke.鈥� 鈥�
In another dissection in the New York Times Magazine, Amanda Hess woke as 鈥渢he inverse of 鈥榩olitically correct.鈥� If 鈥楶.C.鈥� is a taunt from the right, a way of calling out hypersensitivity in political discourse, then 鈥榳oke鈥� is a back-pat from the left, a way of affirming the sensitive.鈥�
Bustle鈥檚 Maddy Foley that singer/activist Erykah Badu first used 鈥渟tay woke鈥� in her 2008 鈥淢aster Teacher,鈥� and that within a few years, 鈥渢he phrase had begun to gain popularity as a way of describing an informed, questioning, self-educating individual, which is essentially how we use it today.鈥澛�
Like other pop-culture words such as 鈥渃谤补测-肠谤补测鈥� and 鈥渢hrowing shade,鈥� it appears to be finding a home in the political realm. At last week鈥檚 Republican National Convention, Jezebel writer Anna Merlan of encountering veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove and asking him, 鈥淗ow woke are you?鈥�
Merlan added: 鈥� 鈥業 don鈥檛 know what that is,鈥� Rove said, a little irritably as he speed-walked away from us.鈥�
She also an encounter with radio show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones: 鈥淎lex Jones says he鈥檚 鈥�100 percent woke鈥� after I explained what woke is.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon writes his 鈥淪peaking Politics鈥� blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
Interested in decoding what candidates are saying? Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election,鈥� is
