Calling out ‘woke’ for what it is

The brainless quarterwit Suella Braverman who passes for our Attorney General has an opinion of our largely unknown next prime minister Penny Mordaunt:  “My view of Penny is that she is woke, yes. I have no disrespect to her for her woke views, but I think we should call it out for what it is”. Yes, we should. Because in my book, being ‘woke’ is a good thing and something I’m proud to call myself.

The Oxford English dictionary defines woke as follows: “Originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice”. Well, why would you not want to be well-informed and up-to-date or, more importantly, alert to racial or social discrimination and justice”? My own woke view is that racism, homophobia, xenophobia and misogyny are things we should be opposed to. On the contrary, it’s A Good Thing to be aware of them.

However, Braverman is not employing the term woke as a positive. She’s weaponising it, just like media bullies like Piers Morgan do, suggesting that somehow there is something very wrong with opposing discrimination and supporting justice for all. If I was Mordaunt, I’d see Braverman’s insult as a compliment and turn it back on this wretchedly stupid woman whose parents, incidentally, came to the UK from Kenya and Mauritius respectively. Presumably, in her weird world view she believes people like her, migrants and the offspring of migrants, should support racism in order to avoid being called woke?

It’s the same with ‘snowflakes’. The Collins English dictionary describes snowflakes as: “The young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations.” What, like younger people not wanting to listen to racist, sexist and homophobic ‘jokes’ like the older generation did and, in some instances, still does? The aforementioned Piers Morgan is fond of calling everyone snowflakes if they don’t enjoy his Pound Shop populist polemic, yet remind me which TV presenter stormed out of the studio live on air when the weatherman disagreed with him? The curse of wokery and snowflakes everywhere, Piers ‘the moron’ Morgan.

Society has changed since I was growing up. We no longer have TV shows like Love Thy Neighbour or Mind Your Language because people no longer want to watch them. A previous generation would gather around the crystal bucket to watch a so-called comedy show where a white man hurled racial slurs against a black man. That the black man always came out on top of whatever situation the writers created didn’t make it right. And watching a show where the Raison d’être was to take the piss out of foreigners just seems odd these days. This ‘humour’ still exists with the likes of Jim Davidson, an alleged comedian, who still tours small theatres and clubs, with his particular brand of bigotry. And no one is stopping him, either; not even us woke people and snowflakes from the cancel culture.

At least the likes of Morgan and Davidson are open about their disdain for people who are well-informed, up-to-date and alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice. You know what you are going to get when you listen to them, which usually involves punching down at people. Braverman, a barrister I wouldn’t trust to sign a passport application, is playing a different, less subtle and more stupid game with no obvious sense of irony.

Don’t be ashamed of being called woke. I wear it as badge of honour. Mordaunt should too, even though she is still just another lying Tory.