Woke Ideology Definition: Hierarchies of Identity Groups Central

There’s been a recent spate of efforts by progressives and liberals to claim that the term “woke” has no meaning and is impossible to define or use — so nobody should talk about it. Some go further to argue that saying “woke” is code for racism and other nefarious impulses.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post asserted that “‘woke’ simply describes anything that is inherently alarming to the right.” Amanda Marcotte of Salon argued that “‘woke’ is acknowledging that racism is a thing that ever happened and/or accepting that LGBTQ people exist.” Adam Serwer wrote that it was “a nebulous term stolen from Black American English, repurposed by conservatives as an epithet to express opposition to forms of egalitarianism they find ridiculous or distasteful.” Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party, told ABC News that the word is a “dog whistle”: “Because ‘woke’ is associated with Black people, it’s been a useful club for those who want to beat those seeking justice over the head with white grievance politics to win elections without deploying explicitly racist terms.”

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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There’s been a recent spate of efforts by progressives and liberals to claim that the term “woke” has no meaning and is impossible to define or use — so nobody should talk about it. Some go further to argue that saying “woke” is code for racism and other nefarious impulses.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post asserted that “‘woke’ simply describes anything that is inherently alarming to the right.” Amanda Marcotte of Salon argued that “‘woke’ is acknowledging that racism is a thing that ever happened and/or accepting that LGBTQ people exist.” Adam Serwer wrote that it was “a nebulous term stolen from Black American English, repurposed by conservatives as an epithet to express opposition to forms of egalitarianism they find ridiculous or distasteful.” Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party, told ABC News that the word is a “dog whistle”: “Because ‘woke’ is associated with Black people, it’s been a useful club for those who want to beat those seeking justice over the head with white grievance politics to win elections without deploying explicitly racist terms.”