What is and what it means to be “WOKE”!

[skinsmarydu]

"Periwinkle" is most definitely woke.  Was the color of the first house I bought, and I loved it. 

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by skinsmarydu

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Captain Wiggles]

Ok but all them old white classical composers were tools of white patriarchal power. 🤪

 

Most of the music courses offered at universities are inherently biased towards western civilization. For example classes in "music history" are in reality classes on the history of western music.  Same gos for "music theory".

[PleaseBlitz]

2 minutes ago, Captain Wiggles said:

Ok but all them old white classical composers were tools of white patriarchal power. 🤪

 

Most of the music courses offered at universities are inherently biased towards western civilization. For example classes in "music history" are in reality classes on the history of western music.  Same gos for "music theory".

Same for art appreciation. And yet the MAGAs have already cancelled Michaelangelo’s David because it has a wiener. 

[LD0506]

[Jabbyrwock]

On 5/21/2023 at 12:12 PM, PleaseBlitz said:

the MAGAs have already cancelled Michaelangelo’s David because it has a wiener. 

 

[China]

‘Chick-fil-A Has Gone Woke’: Right-Wingers Vent on Twitter After Fast Food Chain Salutes Diversity and Inclusion

 

Numerous Right-wing political observers went after Chick-fil-A after the chicken sandwich chain announced its renewed commitment to publicly embracing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

 

Chick-fil-A put out a statement to speak about its company mission to care for customers and employees alike, a purpose they summarize as “Better at Together.”

 

“We understand that the path toward Better at Together looks different for every business,” the statement says. “At Chick-fil-A, Inc., our commitment is to approach this work with intention and humility, always believing the best in one another and striving for common ground. We’re early on in our journey, but we’re honored by the opportunity to steward our organization’s greatest asset – our people – and are energized by the road ahead.”

 

While a company statement like this might not seem terribly out of the ordinary, it has picked up attention on the Right amid backlash against brands such as Target, Bud Light and others attempting to market themselves as more inclusive. Conservative critics took to Twitter to voice their displeasure:

 

Quote

 

 

 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

MAGAs refusing to eat Chic Fil A has a very real potential to be something very close to the irish potato famine, but with very different stupid accepts. 

[Captain Wiggles]

[PleaseBlitz]

Perry Bacon Jr's OpEd in the Post today is outstanding.  

 

 

CNN’s Chris Licht showed the problem with anti-woke centrism

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/06/anti-woke-centrism-cnn-chris-licht-atlantic-profile/

 

Quote

In a roughly 15,000-word profile published last week by the Atlantic, CNN chief executive Chris Licht, who has complained that the network’s journalists were too opinionated when Donald Trump was president, gave a lot of, well, opinions.

 

He expressed skepticism about defunding the police and about using trans-inclusive language when referring to people who give birth to children. He implied people of color with Harvard degrees don’t add diversity to newsrooms and suggested that the news media should have more reporters who are religious, who own guns and who lived on food stamps as kids. He speculated that covid-19 deaths might have been overcounted by public officials. He said journalists should not “virtue signal” and that it’s hard to have “difficult conversations without being demonized or labeled.”

 

After the firestorm created by the Atlantic article, Licht is now stepping down from his post. But all of the harsh criticism is a bit unfair to Licht. In particular, his skepticism of left-wing causes, and his view that people who don’t agree with the left are constantly attacked and shamed, isn’t some outlier stance. These ideas are regularly expressed in many of the nation’s most prominent news outlets. If you spend a lot of time talking to White men in Democratic politics, as I do, you have to nod along as comments like Licht’s are made, even if you don’t agree with them, to signal that you are a reasonable person worth talking to.

 

 

Licht’s comments embody an anti-woke centrism that is increasingly prominent in American media and politics today, particularly among powerful White men who live on the coasts and don’t identify as Republicans or conservatives. It’s deeply flawed, and it’s pushing some important U.S. institutions to make bad decisions.

 

By anti-woke, what I mean is skepticism of progressive causes and ideas, especially on issues of gender, race and sexuality. The term “woke” is vague and imprecise. But I think it does capture the movements toward greater equality such as Black Lives Matter that have gained strength and prominence over the past decade, particularly since the protests after the killing of George Floyd.

 

What I am describing is softer than the outright opposition on the political right to ideas such as critical race theory. Licht, for example, did not say he wants to see racial diversity initiatives at workplaces overturned or to ban gender-affirming care.

 

You might call this centrism — and, to some extent, it is. But this is not the centrism of say, President Biden, who opposes some left-wing causes but doesn’t spend a lot of time deriding people who support them. Anti-woke centrism is really about emphasizing differences with progressives, who are inaccurately cast as Twitter-obsessed college graduates who constantly use terms like Latinx and are out of touch with ordinary Democratic voters.

 

Also, this kind of centrism isn’t usually described with that term by the people who practice it. Instead, they cast themselves as nonideological and neutral, while arguing that those who criticize them are dogmatic and nonobjective. Licht repeatedly referred to those who don’t share his journalism vision as looking to do “advocacy.”

 

Likewise, Chuck Todd, in his announcement this past Sunday that he is stepping down as moderator of “Meet the Press,” cast those who didn’t like how he hosted the show as “partisans.” New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and former Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron have recently written pieces suggesting critics of the mainstream media don’t properly understand and appreciate objectivity and journalistic independence.

 

It really matters that these anti-woke centrists often live in deeply Democratic areas. If you are in a red state, like me, you are constantly in fear of your state government adopting conservative policies — such as new limitations on reproductive freedom, transgender rights and honest education about race. But if you live in D.C. New York City or San Francisco, a much more realistic concern is that a “woke” liberal with whom you don’t agree gains political power — or sharply criticizes you in public.

 

“Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned,” the New York Times declared in the first sentence of a March 2022 editorial.

 

In reality, there has never been a right to voice your opinion without the possibility of being shamed or shunned (terms without precise meanings) — and there shouldn’t be. Shaming and shunning people are free expression, too. What I suspect this editorial was actually calling for is for self-described Democrats and liberals to be able to express more conservative views (such as skepticism about transgender rights) but without being attacked in the way that conservatives often are for such views (being called bigots).

 

People who are not White men sometimes express Licht’s sentiments. (See Democratic Mayor Eric Adams of New York City.) But it’s hard to ignore that the people most invested in these sentiments tend to be White and male. The left-wing movements of the past decade, particularly Black Lives Matter, say America is dominated by white supremacy, patriarchy and out of control capitalism. So it is not surprising that rich White men view these movements, particularly their more radical ideas, with some skepticism.

 

 

Licht and Elon Musk, who has expressed similar sentiments, control two hugely important media platforms. Their views matter. That they have become consumed by this anti-wokeism has meant that great journalists were fired at CNN for being too anti-Trump and that Twitter’s verification system was disabled it seemed because Musk felt it gave too much prominence to left-wing people.

 

It’s discouraging that Sulzberger is caught up in Twitter bashing, recently casting the platform as “fostering a type of groupthink inside the profession.” Is Sulzberger carefully reading tweets from local news organizations in small and midsize cities across the country and concluding that the coverage is groupthink? I doubt it. He is just rebuking left-leaning activists who use the site to critique the Times. There was plenty of groupthink inside elite news outlets such as the Times before Twitter existed — but not really an easy way to alert their reporters to police shootings of unarmed Black men.

There can and should be open debate about police reform, diversity, covid-19 policies and other issues — both between the two parties and among progressives and other non-Republicans. But when we have a left that is pushing America to finish the work of the 1960s and create a true multicultural democracy and a right that is banning Black intellectual ideas from public schools, it’s a huge mistake for powerful non-Republicans in society to spend so much time bashing the left. This anti-woke centrism often sounds as though people are auditioning to be today’s version of the “white moderates” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. castigated six decades ago.

 

Chris Licht doesn’t have to be woke. Everyone in America doesn’t need to put their preferred pronouns in their Twitter bios or use the term “birthing people.” I don’t do either of those things.

 

But Licht and others like him should definitely stop being so anti-woke. It is disappointing that some of the most powerful people in the country think the problem in America is that people are too critical of the police and insufficiently critical of transgender activists. I can’t tell if the anti-woke don’t understand what’s actually happening in America — or if they actively oppose a more equitable country.

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

"If you are in a red state you are constantly in fear of your state government adopting conservative policies — such as new limitations on reproductive freedom, transgender rights and honest education about race. But if you live in D.C. New York City or San Francisco, a much more realistic concern is that a “woke” liberal with whom you don’t agree gains political power — or sharply criticizes you in public."

 

 

[Destino]

3 hours ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

"If you are in a red state you are constantly in fear of your state government adopting conservative policies — such as new limitations on reproductive freedom, transgender rights and honest education about race. But if you live in D.C. New York City or San Francisco, a much more realistic concern is that a “woke” liberal with whom you don’t agree gains political power — or sharply criticizes you in public."

 

this argument makes no sense to me. Why would I have to support defunding the police, an argument that seems to be based on the same nebulous nonsense as prison abolition, in order to oppose red state lunacy? Why would I have to choose one or the other? Furthermore why is it that fringe groups feel they should be allowed to hammer those they consider centrists freely and constantly, but bristle when any slings and arrows are fired back?

 

this has nothing to do with being woke, as that term is meaningless outside of right wing circles where it means essentially “anything left of me.”  I do not support defunding the police, I support replacing the police entirely. Rebuild it from the ground up with something the relies more on pragmatism and evidence and less on traditional policing. I think the idea of simply less enforcement bringing about transformative positive change to be flat out ridiculous and I’ve yet to see any data that it works anywhere on the planet. 
 

Another issue I have with these gate keeping unserious people is that too often they put the cart before the horse.  Show me a plan to build Norway style prisons (which are misunderstood genius btw), mental asylums, and homeless shelters FIRST, and tie their completion to the roll out of decreased and dramatically restructured enforcement and I’ll get on board.  And believing this doesn’t stop me from opposing red state insanity for a second.  
 

I’m not going to accept I have to be nice to delusional communists in order to oppose fascists. Sell me on a plan.

[PleaseBlitz]

1 minute ago, Destino said:

this argument makes no sense to me. Why would I have to support defunding the police, an argument that seems to be based on the same nebulous nonsense as prison abolition, in order to oppose red state lunacy? Why would I have to choose one or the other? Furthermore why is it that fringe groups feel they should be allowed to hammer those they consider centrists freely and constantly, but bristle when any slings and arrows are fired back?

 

His broader point is that there is a big difference between (1) being publicly shamed for what you believe and (2) having the government institute policies that actively harm you.  

 

On the first point, he notes:

 

Quote

“Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned,” the New York Times declared in the first sentence of a March 2022 editorial.

 

In reality, there has never been a right to voice your opinion without the possibility of being shamed or shunned (terms without precise meanings) — and there shouldn’t be. Shaming and shunning people are free expression, too.

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

3 minutes ago, Destino said:

this argument makes no sense to me. Why would I have to support defunding the police, an argument that seems to be based on the same nebulous nonsense as prison abolition, in order to oppose red state lunacy? Why would I have to choose one or the other? Furthermore why is it that fringe groups feel they should be allowed to hammer those they consider centrists freely and constantly, but bristle when any slings and arrows are fired back?

 

this has nothing to do with being woke, as that term is meaningless outside of right wing circles where it means essentially “anything left of me.”  I do not support defunding the police, I support replacing the police entirely. Rebuild it from the ground up with something the relies more on pragmatism and evidence and less on traditional policing. I think the idea of simply less enforcement bringing about transformative change to be flat out ridiculous and I’ve yet to see any data that it works anywhere on the planet. 
 

Another issue I have with these gate keeping unserious people is that too often they put the cart before the horse. Not enforcing drug and vagrancy laws first, before there’s any infrastructure or plan to deal with them.  The result? Tent cities and open air drug markets. That’s progress? That’s the future I’m supposed to want? It’s not. That’s poor governance is what that is. That’s the result of listening to ideological  purity nonsense that confuses enforcement for the problem.

 

Show me a plan to build Norway style prisons, mental asylums, and homeless shelters FIRST, and tie their completion to the roll out of decreased and dramatically restructured enforcement and I’ll get on board.  And believing this doesn’t stop me from opposing red state insanity for a second.  
 

I’m not going to accept I have to be nice to delusional communists in order to oppose fascists. 

 

What? lol...

 

The part I quoted was simply comparing the dangers of what the right-wing anti-"woke" mob is for and against. Repubs are actually doing those things mentioned in that quote. Dems are not doing ANY of the things the right keep claiming "woke" culture is hellbent on doing. Seriously...which Dems/blue states have actually defunded police departments?...Because we can name the Repubs/red states who have taken away reproductive rights, transgender rights, and started abolishing the teaching of race history in schools. What is the Dem/blue state equivalent of that?

 

Not to mention, "defund the police" is--at worst--bad sloganeering, because the realities of what would take place "defunding" the police is nothing like what the right wants their base to think it is.

 

 

[Destino]

11 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

His broader point is that there is a big difference between (1) being publicly shamed for what you believe and (2) having the government institute policies that actively harm you.  

 

On the first point, he notes:

 

He’s right there is a difference, one is much worse. Being shot is much worse than stepping on a Lego. Should I not demand my kid to pick up the damned legos because people are being shot somewhere? We have to deal with the problems of the world and the problems where we live. Likewise a person living in a blue city has to deal with the ridiculous arguments of fringe politicians where they live AND the monstrous policy moves by right wingers elsewhere.  One is more disastrous than the other, but we still have to keep our own house in order.

 

and again, at no point during any of this are the fringe leftists halting their attacks on their fellow democrats they view as centrists. They just want to be free to attack without being criticized themselves. 

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

2 minutes ago, Destino said:

Being shot is much worse than stepping on a Lego.

You’ve obviously never stepped on a Lego 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

2 minutes ago, Destino said:

He’s right there is a difference, one is much worse. Being shot is much worse than stepping on a Lego. Should I not demand my kid to pick up the damned legos because people are being shot somewhere?

 

Why are you interpreting that quote as meaning Dems/liberals/whoever should NOT criticize anything "their side" is doing?...Because that seems to be your argument here.

[Destino]

4 minutes ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

 

Why are you interpreting that quote as meaning Dems/liberals/whoever should NOT criticize anything "their side" is doing?...Because that seems to be your argument here.

because that’s what he’s really saying with lines like this 

 

Quote

You might call this centrism — and, to some extent, it is. But this is not the centrism of say, President Biden, who opposes some left-wing causes but doesn’t spend a lot of time deriding people who support them. Anti-woke centrism is really about emphasizing differences with progressives,

he’s willinh to begrudgingly accept Biden’s opposition on some issue because at least he shuts up about it. He’s not ok with more vocal opposition in the media. Why? How are we to argue that the media isn’t the liberal machine republicans pretend it is, while at the same time demanding the media show deference to causes deemed sufficiently progressive?

[Califan007 The Constipated]

1 minute ago, Destino said:

because that’s what he’s really saying with lines like this 

 

he’s failing to begrudgingly accept Biden’s opposition because he shuts up about it. He’s not ok with more vocal opposition in the media. Why? How are we to argue that the media isn’t the liberal machine republicans pretend it is, while at the same time demanding the media show deference to causes deemed sufficiently progressive?

 

Even if you were right here...what does that have to do with my post? lol...

[PleaseBlitz]

Just now, Destino said:

he’s failing to begrudgingly accept Biden’s opposition because he shuts up about it. He’s not ok with more vocal opposition in the media. Why? How are we to argue that the media isn’t the liberal machine republicans pretend it is, while at the same time demanding the media show deference to causes deemed sufficiently progressive?

 

I guess because the causes he wants media to show deference to are treating people equally and with respect and teaching history honestly. 

[Captain Wiggles]

The media is this country ain't liberal it's corporate. 🤭

 

Does this mean Zaslav is done trying to revamp CCN into a more appealing entertainment source for boomers and Gen Xers?

[Corcaigh]

On 4/6/2023 at 4:56 PM, skinsmarydu said:

 Moosehead 

 

How can you tell if someone likes Moosehead?

 

Antler marks on their belly.

[Destino]

15 minutes ago, Captain Wiggles said:

The media is this country ain't liberal it's corporate. 🤭

 

Does this mean Zaslav is done trying to revamp CCN into a more appealing entertainment source for boomers and Gen Xers?

It sells fear and outrage for profit, which as an avid horror fan you’d think I’d be ok with… but an electorate with a warped perception of the state of the country might do crazy ****. So long as a I live here that’s a problem for me. 
 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I just wanted to say I think the name Perry Bacon Jr. is awesome and I'm probably going to stop at a Sonic or a Burger King on the way home from picking up Spiff Jr. from daycare because of it.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Spaceman Spiff

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Just now, Corcaigh said:

 

How can you tell if someone likes Moosehead?

 

Antler marks on their belly.

 

 

BOOOO!!!