Joel Anderson, a staff writer at Slate, claims that it is a racial slur to use the term “woke” if you’re not black.
“If you’re not black and started using ‘woke’ pejoratively sometime post-2018 or so (or worse, don’t know anything about the earlier iteration of the term), I think it’s fair to consider it a racial slur,” Anderson tweeted on Sunday. “And it doesn’t mean I’m gonna do anything to you, or that anyone else will. But it doesn’t mean I won’t either.”
And it doesn't mean I’m gonna do anything to you, or that anyone else will. But it doesn’t mean I won’t either.
— Joel D. Anderson (@byjoelanderson) November 8, 2021
Whatever any of that means.
According to Anderson, the term “woke” was “shoplifted” from the black community, and seemed to imply that he’d be willing to get violent if he hears a non-black person use the allegedly appropriated term.
Related: Woke Language
“I know this is hard because a certain group of folks feel entitled to say whatever they want to you whenever they want. And who am I to stop them from using a term they shoplifted from the black community? All I’m saying is, like with the other words, I get to decide my response,” he said in his Twitter thread. “To close the loop here because i have a busy day: It’s not a debate. Say what you want and we can take it from there. Catch you in traffic.”
Oh, it’s not a debate? Well, excuse me. We all better do what he says… or else!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member