Woke capitalism: Why Republicans aren't winning over investors in war against ESG and 'woke' big businessīut Black Americans have used the term "woke" since at least the early-to-mid 20th century to mean being alert to racial and social injustice.Ī version of the term was first used by Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey as early as 1923. It was later popularized by Blues artists such as Lead Belly, who used it when singing about the Scottsboro Boys, a group of nine Black teenagers who were falsely accused of raping two white women on a train in northeast Alabama in 1931.Īs the Black Lives Matter movement began after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, "woke" expanded outside of Black communities into the larger public lexicon. "It's kind of this lumping together of anybody whose views could be construed as being progressive on issues related to identity and civil rights."Īt CPAC this year, for example, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles called for the eradication of "transgenderism." ![]() "If you ask people what woke is, I think what they mean is they want to stand against people who are engaging in some type of advocacy for marginalized people," said Andra Gillespie, political scientist at Emory University. Some have used it to attack trans and gay rights while others apply it to critical race theory – a legal theory that examines systemic racism as a part of American institutions – and the teachings of the New York Times' 1619 project in public schools. The uptick on excoriating "woke " ideology has increased in recent years among politicians, including former President Donald Trump, as Americans across the nation battle over diversity, inclusion and equity efforts in the workforce, public schools and in legislation.īut what is "woke"? And what do the GOP attacks mean for 2024?Ī GOP war on 'woke'?: Most Americans view the term as a positive, USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds What does being woke mean?Īmong conservative lawmakers and activists "woke" tends to be an across-the-board denunciation of progressive values and liberal initiatives. Stay in the conversation: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter "I traveled the country calling out the woke-industrial-complex in America,” GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy bragged.Įlsewhere, Republicans have declared war on "woke capitalism” and even introduced legislation like the "Stop WOKE Act," in Florida, an acronym for Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees. ![]() Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley decried wokeness as "a virus more dangerous than any pandemic, hands down." ![]() During the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference, speaker after speaker attacked "woke" ideology in their speeches to conservative activists.
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