No matter how you pronounce his name, the Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is on the offensive. He’s visiting Texas next week for fundraising and promises to “counterpunch” against any future Trump attacks. But what does the governor stand for?
Straight Arrow News contributor Rashad Richey argues DeSantis‘ “anti-woke” campaign lacks substance and won’t actually help anyone.
What is he running for? Well, he said he’s running to stop “wokeism.” What does that mean? What does “woke” mean? You see, there’s no policy agenda in that proclamation. Let me explain to you what “woke” actually means. One definition says it is the quality of being alert and concerned about social injustice and discrimination. Basically, that is correct.
Where did the terminology start? Well, it started in the 1930s with African American movements about transformation, change, better societal construct. This was how “woke” was born. You see, “woke” created some other permeations such as the Civil Rights Movement; individuals who were in the Civil Rights Movement being led by Dr. King, and others, well, they would say to each other, that they were “woke.”
It resurfaced a few years ago, in urban culture again, where you have Erykah Badu and many of the artists who said the same thing: we need to remain “woke.” If you are “woke” that means you are not “sleep.” The opposite of “wokeism” must be “sleepism.” And the only people that want you to not be “woke” are those who would prefer that you are “sleep” — “sleep” to the ideology, “sleep” to the reality of what they’re actually doing and “sleep” to the fact that Ron DeSantis is not offering you a policy agenda.
You see, if he runs against “wokeism,” is that putting more money in your family’s pocket? Does that increase your access to higher education, or affordable education? Does it somehow transform the reality of individuals in this nation who are living paycheck to paycheck, but they work hard? No. Does it give women more equal pay for equal work? No. As a matter of fact, he’s not campaigning on any of these actual policies that help the average American. He‘s simply campaigning against “woke.”
