The word woke first appeared in the New York Times 1962 essay by William Melvin Kelley. It was added to the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries in 2017.
“The word woke became entwined with the Black Lives Matter movement; instead of just being a word that signaled awareness of injustice or racial tension, it became a word of action,” according to Merriam-Webster. “Activists were woke and called on others to stay woke.”
It has now become a movement. The unholy trinity of the woke movement is diversity, equity, and inclusion.
With the woke movement, we are all categorized according to race, sexual orientation and religion. The lowest class in this grading system is a white, heterosexual, Christian or Jewish male.
Leading symphonies, for decades, have conducted “blind auditions” to find the best musicians. Because the musician is hidden, they are judged strictly on their musical abilities.
According to Anthony Tommasini, the chief classical music critic at the NY Times, that is not good enough because it does not represent the race of the symphonies’ city. In 2020 Tommasini wrote that the lack of orchestral diversity resulting from this meritocracy needs to change, and musicians should be chosen based on race, gender, and other factors.
That is an example of woke ideology.
At the newspaper, we receive news releases regularly. Recently, I received one from the Siteman Cancer Center — a cancer treatment and research leader — announcing they had just hired Vetta Snaders Thompson, PhD, as their inaugural Associate Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The release from Timothy J. Eberlein, MD said, “Dr. Thompson is eminently qualified to lead our efforts to enhance and expand diversity within our leadership team, research workforce, and advisory boards.”
My wife and I — knock on wood — have lived our lives cancer free. If that would ever change, I would want the best care possible. I would never ask about the race or sexual orientation of my caregiver. That would be ridiculous.
My question for Dr. Eberlein is, “how will this improve cancer research? If one of my family members or I should need your services, how will this help me beat cancer?”
For a political ideology to work, it should be applicable in all situations. How do you think it would work when it comes to sports?
The Golden State Warriors are the 2022 NBA Champions. The starting five for the Warriors includes one player who is white. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the racial makeup of San Fransisco, where the team is based, is 42.2 percent white, 22.9 percent Hispanic, 22.3 percent Asian and 7 percent black.
Looks like the Warriors’ owners and coaches picked their players by talent, not to match the race of San Fransisco.
For most of us, the St. Louis Cardinals are more familiar. Professional baseball teams, during the regular season, retain a rooster of 25.
How many of you think the Cardinals management should sign players based on diversity, equity and inclusion? If they did, I doubt they would field a competitive team.
Martin Luther King Jr. wanted each person to be judged by their character, not the color of their skin, because using skin color to determine value is what it means to be racist. The woke movement is a way to hide racism in America.
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In another sign of failed far-left policies, Starbucks announced last week they will be closing 16 locations by the end of July in Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Portland, Oregon.
A release from the company, posted by CNN explained; “After careful consideration, we are closing some stores in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate.” To make workers feel safer in other stores, the company is offering active shooter training and other types of trainings, they wrote.
How ironic that one of America’s most progressive corporations has to close locations due to high crime rates brought about, in large part, from progressive policies. Policies which include defund the police, no bail bonds and a criminal-justice reform movement that lets criminals go free.
