The new season of “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell” kicks off in Arizona with an investigation into the origins of “woke” and the debate over critical race theory in schools. The series premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Washington
CNN
—
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Race Deconstructed newsletter. To get it in your inbox every week, sign up for free here.

Once upon a time, many decades ago, “woke” was a term used mostly in Black spaces to underscore the importance of keeping a close eye on patterns of racism and oppression.

Language evolves, though, and sometimes in sinister ways.

Over the years, “woke” has lived other lives: as a rallying cry against police brutality, as an ironic meme and now as an imprecise term used to decry progressive action.

Consider that, just this month, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Stop WOKE Act went into effect. Among other things, the legislation is designed to quash instruction about race in schools and in the workplace.

To chart the transformation of “woke” ahead of the return on Sunday of the CNN Original Series, “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell,” which in the season premiere explores what’s going on with “woke,” I chatted with deandre a. miles-hercules, a linguistics scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During our conversation, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, we also examined how powerful words can be defanged and distorted.

What are some of the earliest instances of people using “woke”?

By using the term “woke” however they want, conservatives have muddied its meaning, have obfuscated it to refer to anything having to do with progressivism they don’t like. The same goes for “critical race theory.” They’ve done it with so many terms. “Identity politics” is another one.

INVICTVS138 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:06 pm
I know the RWNJs think it’s some sort of ultra MAGA put down; but it doesn’t bother me at all to be called “woke.”


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tonguengroover wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:06 am I think the term really took off after Obama made a fairly recent speech about being woke. Of course anything he says will be taken out of context by the racist pig republicans.

Origins:

The new season of “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell” kicks off in Arizona with an investigation into the origins of “woke” and the debate over critical race theory in schools. The series premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Washington
CNN
—
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Race Deconstructed newsletter. To get it in your inbox every week, sign up for free here.

Once upon a time, many decades ago, “woke” was a term used mostly in Black spaces to underscore the importance of keeping a close eye on patterns of racism and oppression.

Language evolves, though, and sometimes in sinister ways.

Over the years, “woke” has lived other lives: as a rallying cry against police brutality, as an ironic meme and now as an imprecise term used to decry progressive action.

Consider that, just this month, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Stop WOKE Act went into effect. Among other things, the legislation is designed to quash instruction about race in schools and in the workplace.

To chart the transformation of “woke” ahead of the return on Sunday of the CNN Original Series, “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell,” which in the season premiere explores what’s going on with “woke,” I chatted with deandre a. miles-hercules, a linguistics scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During our conversation, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, we also examined how powerful words can be defanged and distorted.

What are some of the earliest instances of people using “woke”?

By using the term “woke” however they want, conservatives have muddied its meaning, have obfuscated it to refer to anything having to do with progressivism they don’t like. The same goes for “critical race theory.” They’ve done it with so many terms. “Identity politics” is another one.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/10/us/woke- ... index.html

CowboyT wrote: Sun Jun 11, 2023 9:14 pm

tonguengroover wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:06 am I think the term really took off after Obama made a fairly recent speech about being woke. Of course anything he says will be taken out of context by the racist pig republicans.

Origins:

The new season of “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell” kicks off in Arizona with an investigation into the origins of “woke” and the debate over critical race theory in schools. The series premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Washington
CNN
—
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Race Deconstructed newsletter. To get it in your inbox every week, sign up for free here.

Once upon a time, many decades ago, “woke” was a term used mostly in Black spaces to underscore the importance of keeping a close eye on patterns of racism and oppression.

Language evolves, though, and sometimes in sinister ways.

Over the years, “woke” has lived other lives: as a rallying cry against police brutality, as an ironic meme and now as an imprecise term used to decry progressive action.

Consider that, just this month, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Stop WOKE Act went into effect. Among other things, the legislation is designed to quash instruction about race in schools and in the workplace.

To chart the transformation of “woke” ahead of the return on Sunday of the CNN Original Series, “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell,” which in the season premiere explores what’s going on with “woke,” I chatted with deandre a. miles-hercules, a linguistics scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During our conversation, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, we also examined how powerful words can be defanged and distorted.

What are some of the earliest instances of people using “woke”?

By using the term “woke” however they want, conservatives have muddied its meaning, have obfuscated it to refer to anything having to do with progressivism they don’t like. The same goes for “critical race theory.” They’ve done it with so many terms. “Identity politics” is another one.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/10/us/woke- ... index.html

Well, I grew up in "Black spaces", as the article says, and I never heard the term "woke" until shortly after the murder of Michael Brown by then-Ofc. Darren Wilson. Never heard my Dad say it, and he was definitely from the 'hood (as he used to put it, he was lucky to get out alive). I never heard any of his Black friends use the term, and he took me around the country with him. So, I'm not sure where whoever wrote this article got that notion from; maybe it was a regional thing years ago. But it reminds me of the expression, "jive turkey"; the only time I ever heard that term was on TV or the movies, not from Black people actually out here. Again, possibly regional.