Woke & Proud
What is Woke?
The dictionary says that Woke is Afriican-American slang for "Well Informed." So the opposition to being woke would be an argument for ignorance.
Contempt Prior to Investigation
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous has a famous quote:
There is a principle, which is a bar against all information,
which is proof against all arguments,
and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance
—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
This is especially relevant when you consider the Republican opposition to "Woke-ness" or "Being Woke," opposing any attempts by modern educators to counter thinking that has persisted since before the Civil War and is still taught as fact in Republican-controlled states.
The ignorance taught in "non-woke" schools is that White Anglo-Saxon or Aryan (WASP) cisgender heterosexual Males are superior to all other people just by being WASP Men. These teachings often come as "Axioms" to be accepted as fact that denounce those other than WASP Males. Teachings like:
- African-Americans (Blacks, Negros...) are intellectually inferior, incapable of being good soldiers, leaders, lawyers, doctors, or other professions requiring high intellect.
- Women are too emotional and irrational - even hysterical and therefore unfit for professions, leadership, the military, or other roles requiring decisive actions. The word hysterical refers to female anatomy and monthly cycles.
- African-Americans, Latin Americans, and Asian Americans are drug addicts and drug dealers, which is why they can't succeed in legitimate businesses.
- Native Americans were primitives who lost because they used bows & arrows, they couldn't handle hard liquor, and don't make good soldiers.
- Minorities are ignorant and doing poorly in public schools.
- Minorities are mentally, psychologically, physically, and socially incapable of competing with Whites.
- Gay men, lesbians, and transgender men and women cannot be trusted.
To this, I say BUNK!
- African-Americans have achieved remarkable success as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals, especially when given access to quality education that focuses and rewards academic rather than athletic achievement.
- Women have been successful leaders, including liberal and conservative heads of state, cabinet positions, and leadership roles in finance, politics, business, corporate board rooms, and management positions.
- Historically, drugs were supplied by whites as a means of subjugating and controlling minority populations, and drug laws have been enforced more aggressively for minority defendants than for white defendants. Often, public defenders in minority areas are given barely enough budget & resources for a plea bargain, and prosecutors often escalate charges. Where a white defendant with an average lawyer would get charged with possession, a minority defendant would be accused of dealing.
- Native Americans not only used repeating rifles but also "lost" because the U.S. Cavalry routinely attacked women and children when they knew the warriors were away on hunting parties or patrols. The whites also massacred millions of bison, the critical food supply for most native-American tribes. Reservations were death camps supplied with blankets infected with smallpox. During World War II, Navahoe and Cherokee code-talkers relayed logistical information in real-time using codes based on their native languages - codes that were never broken.
- Minority schools often use the lowest-paid teachers, most with little or no experience and no tenure. These teachers are less experienced at motivating and engaging students in their teaching subjects. Minority schools are often run by former athletic coaches more interested in teams' athletic performance than their students' academic performance. Too often, this is reflected in the budgets where 80-90% of the district's budget goes to sports & half-time activities like marching bands, while less than 5% goes to computers. These computers are not like those used as servers for corporate websites. There might be money for ten computers per thousand students, all of which are based on Windows Student Edition.
- In integrated schools, minority students are proportionally even more successful than their white counterparts. A higher percentage of minority students achieve honors, high GPAs, and higher SAT and ACT scores because they take the educational opportunity seriously and are encouraged to pursue academic and scientific interests in after-school programs.
- The "Lavender Scare" - of the 1950s and early 1960s asserted that LGBT people could not be trusted because they were so secretive. Ironically, LGBT people kept trade secrets, earned patents, and created breakthroughs in science, engineering, mathematics, and medicine. There were even LGBT people in the intelligence and security community.
Those who oppose "Woke-ness" are advocating schools, libraries, and history that promote ignorance and don't want their favorite ignorant beliefs shattered by a bunch of relevant facts.
