It wasn’t long ago that you could stop by Target for a tuck-friendly swimsuit, and kids could check out adult material in the elementary school library. All while their parents spent an afternoon apologizing to black people on the street for slavery.
But then Trump ruined the progressive party we call wokeness, as it’s been moved to the cultural gas stoves back burner.
It had a good run, though.
We can trace wokeness back to Martin Luther King Jr. when he spoke of “remaining awake through a great revolution.” The term started with good intentions, which meant to be aware of social issues during the Civil Rights era. Eventually, federal and state governments and employers wrote equality into law and policy.
The concept evolved into political correctness, then social justice, before graduating to modern wokeness we have today.
By the early 2020s, wokeness burned white, or black, hot throughout society. It was all over social media, in work emails, and the focus of many a politician’s agenda.
But people grew tired of walking on eggshells. More relevant to for-profit businesses, consumers grew tired, which led to some of the most significant boycotts in American history, with Bud Light and Target taking the brunt.
And they worked, with big brands like Walmart, Starbucks, JP Morgan, and Ford agreeing to scale back DEI initiatives and rethink their marketing plans. But it’s not just gender ideology and race. People are fed up with the “defund the police” movement, support for open borders, and climate change activism.
That’s why so many people have declared the war on wokeness as won.
But is wokeness dead? Or is it just tactically retreating to fight another day?
Argument: Wokeness is DEAD!
Wokeness fatigue is real. Land acknowledgements, DEI quotas, dudes in women in sports, it’s all collapsing under its own stupidity. Even the 'normies' are done playing along. You feel it too, right? -Pascal Angleheart
Main Points
Trump Train
State-Level Legislation
Corporate Retreat Has a New Meaning
Box Office Bloodbath
Woke Fatigue
Point #1: Trump Train
Trump is back, and he’s pissed. On the 47th’s first day in office, he signed an executive order to crack down on equity-based practices in government, placing all federal DEI-related positions on leave. Since then, US military recruitment numbers have skyrocketed after years of missing the mark.
Also, on April 3rd, Trump demanded that all states confirm that K-12 schools do not engage in DEI practices or risk federal funding. With such programs effectively illegal, wokeness loses its institutional grip.
Point #2: State Legislation
It’s not just the Trump administration waging war on wokeness. In 2024, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signed the “Dismantle DEI Act,” restricting governments, public colleges, and schools from using race, sex, or other demographics in employment decisions.
In January, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion in state government.
So far this year, nine states have eliminated DEI policies, with nine more having similar legislation through at least one chamber. Wokeness will have a hard time surviving this multi-pronged assault.
Point #3: Corporate Retreat Has a New Meaning
Corporate giants like Meta and Boeing agreed to scale back DEI programs, but the right-wing boycotts rippled throughout the marketplace, impacting medium-sized to smaller brands. Journalist Robby Starbuck made a name for himself by seeking out companies with political agendas, especially those that mainly cater to right-wing customers such as Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson.
Cultural corporate messaging strongly reinforced federal and state-mandated DEI. Without it, wokeness as a concept will continue to lose steam.
Point #4: Box Office Bloodbath
Maybe the best place to quantitatively illustrate the political divide between everyday Americans and political or cultural elites is ticket sales over the last few years.
In 2021, Santa Inc., Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen’s HBO Christmas special about a girl becoming Santa Claus, currently sits at a 1.7 star rating out of 15K reviews on IMDB. More recently, in 2023, The Marvels crashed on opening weekend, raking in $47M with a $220M price tag, making only $84,500,223 in the US and Canada overall, with superhero fans blaming woke storytelling.
The latest cinema slaughter was, of course, Snow White, where creators stopped mid-production to revise their political angles. But it was a lost cause, with a $250M budget, making only $86,900,432 in the US and Canada. The film also sits at a 1.7-star rating out of 357K+ reviews. Yikes.
Point #5: Woke Fatigue
Whether we’re talking politics, corporations, or Hollywood, it all stems from the same source: everyday Americans are simply tired. Voters voted out DEI, consumers voted with their dollars, and movie fans found something else to watch.
All this signaled to state, federal, and workplace leaders that people were fed up with the thought and speech police threatening them at their every move. With such overwhelming pushback, we can see across the board that wokeness is on life support.
Rebuttal: Wokeness Is ALIVE AND WELL!
Wokeness is not dead, and I don’t think it ever will be if we’re talking about a certain punitive stripe of wokeness. -John McWhorter
Main Points
Democratic Rebrand
School Support
Grassroots and Community Organizing
Corporate Cover
Wokeness, Re
Point #1: Democratic Rebrand
The Trump administration and red states might enact legislation against gender ideology and DEI practices, but this simply pushes progressives back to the drawing board to reassess their public messaging. For example, Gavin Newsom boldly interviewed Charlie Kirk, telling listeners the California governor no longer supports transgender athletes competing in women’s sports—quite a surprise.
Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) expressed after President Trump’s 2024 victory that the Democratic party must rethink their public perception as being woke as it has transformed into a pejorative. As progressives historically use society's woes as a platform for policy, they will simply shift gears, and “wokeness” will manifest as a different flavor.
Point #2: School Support
Despite the threats to colleges to disband DEI, the University of New Mexico resisted with state support. In Boston, Northeastern University pulled a fast one and simply renamed its DEI offices to “Belonging at Northeastern.” And it’s not just colleges resisting. Public schools like those in Dayton, Ohio, unanimously defied Trump's anti-DEI efforts.
Point #3: Grassroots and Community Organizing
Woke supporters might tone it down in the limelight, but grassroots circles keep the progressive torch lit underground. Organizations like The Courage Collective, Equity in the Center, and The Equity Lab continue to push for resistance against anti-woke policies through consulting services, website design, and community events. Resource-rich organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Brennan Center for Justice, and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will carry on attacks on anti-DEI efforts in court by suing federal and state governments seeking to end progressive policies.
Point #4: Corporate Cover
Despite right-wing boycotts and sales losses, giants like Marriott continue to embrace DEI ideals, with CEO Anthony Capuano saying:
We welcome all to our hotels and we create opportunities for all—and fundamentally those will never change. The words might change, but that’s who we are as a company. -Anthony Capuano, Marriot CEO
Coca-Cola recently warned that “abandoning DEI could be bad for business.” Levi Strauss shareholders voted against ending diversity programs in April, and, at nobody’s surprise, Ben and Jerry’s continues its strong, public, progressive stance, as co-founder Ben Cohen was recently tossed from a May 14 Senate hearing while protesting RFK Jr.
Point #5: Hollywood Holdouts
Verna Myers, former head of inclusion at Netflix, told Variety in March that entertainment companies will likely not abandon DEI initiatives, along with stars like Meryl Streep, Pedro Pascal, and Robert De Niro, who remain steadfast in their far-left stances. De Niro, earlier this month, delivered an opening speech at the Cannes Film Festival, where his anti-Trump rhetoric will always be welcome.
Video game consultancy groups like Sweet Baby, Inc., remain in gamers’ crosshairs as producers continually push woke narratives. Earlier this year, Ubisoft released the game Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, which portrays a black Samurai character and “same sex romances” in the storyline.
Same Brand, Different Flavor
Is wokeness dead?
What is wokeness, really? They say it means to have a heightened awareness of social inequalities and injustices, particularly as they relate to racial, sexual, or gender identification.
But it’s really just support for the current political agenda, the left’s, in this case.
I think most of us agree that if someone is being targeted because of their race, religion, or creed, there should be steps to address unequal treatment, be it violence on the streets or workplace discrimination.
Yet our desire for equal rights has been molded into a political bludgeon.
The same thing happened in China when the government pitted people against land owners and elites, the Soviet Union did something similar with the working class, and Hitler gained support by blaming Germany’s shortcomings on non Aryans.
None of these tyrants cared about their people. It was all about power and control.
I don’t think many of our modern politicians, CEOs, or celebrities give a rip about trans rights, racial equity, or the climate. And there are many politicians with Rs next to their names and country music stars that couldn't care less about American values. You could call supporting the Global War on Terror twenty years ago a “woke” stance, in a way. The establishment found a reason for the masses to support a war, and people followed.
Is “wokeness” dead? Maybe the in-your-face, family-friendly drag show leftist variety we’ve seen over the years is fading. Still, politicians and people in power always have, and always will, play on cultural woes for votes, and that’s something that will never die.
GB
Meme of the Week
Brand of the Week: Sasquatch Tea Company
Coffee can be a pain. Between the beans, filters, and jitters, sometimes you just need a simple tea bag. Not to mention, coffee is oversaturated in conservative or right-wing media sponsorship. Two brothers-in-law from Indiana broke the norm and started Sasquatch Tea to offer a coffee alternative that represented everyday Americans.
Check out Sasquatch Tea for loose-leaf or traditional bagged options, or type in your ZIP code on their homepage and see if it’s sold in your local stores!
American of the Week: US Army Staff Sergeant Travis W Atkins
On June 1, 2007, Sergeant Travis A Atkins and his element were conducting a patrol in Abu Samak, Iraq. Atkins was notified that there were two pairs of men acting suspiciously near his team. That’s when Atkins approached the men to question them, and a fight ensued. When one of the men began grabbing for something under his clothes, Atkins bear-hugged the man and tackled him to get him away from his fellow Soldiers.
Unfortunately, the man managed to detonate an explosive wrapped around his body, killing Atkins, but saving his team.
Travis Atkins left behind his 11-year-old son Trevor, his parents, and his sister. He was only 31 years old. Remember Travis, his family, and the countless men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country this Memorial Day weekend.
A worthy read, thanks Greg 👏👏