The embattled “Woke” culture in the United States of Amnesia

by Vijaya Chandrasoma

Two of the titles of American writer, Gore Vidal’s books pretty much summarize the past, the present and future of the United States of America in the simplest of terms.The first – Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace – is self-explanatory. America has been continually at war, starting with the genocidal invasion and colonization of the country, all the while sanctimoniously and paradoxically protesting its dream for world peace.

The Second – Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia – describes an attempt by conservative Americans to minimize the history of centuries of atrocities perpetrated by Europeans, mainly against Native and African-American peoples.

The proposed strategy of today’s Republican Party is very simple. Just pretend the violent history of the past never happened. Or if it did, they don’t recall any of it. In any event, what’s done is done, so what is the point of cluttering young minds with stories that happened centuries ago, which will only serve to feel guilt about the cruelty of their forefathers. After all, they had nothing to with it.

These white Americans prefer to ignore that the whole purpose of a study of history is to learn how it has influenced society to the present day, and to make sure it does not repeat itself. Such atrocities of man killing man have been repeated with depressing regularity, one genocide more cruel and sadistic than the previous war, culminating in the holocaust, which claimed over six million lives purely because of ethnicity and religion.

The holocaust against the Jews and other ethnicities of “impure” blood is recognized as a modern genocide with ramifications that affect the world today. Crimes committed by their forefathers that is free of personal guilt but a source of national guilt. The very same problem has existed throughout history, not just in Germany but in today’s United States of America and other invaders of the past. These nations too suffer from national guilt without personal responsibility. Many prefer not to believe that the societal, racial and economic injustices in the world today are a direct result of the history of these past atrocities.

The real fear today is that the radical right of America is currently following the playbook the Nazis in Germany used to justify the holocaust, to pave the way of transforming themselves into an authoritarian state of white supremacy. Even before coming into power, the Nazis attempted to reconstruct German society, using every institution, including schools and universities, to spread the National Socialist ideology. Schools were banned from teaching the truth behind the loss of World War I, instead using the Big Lie that Germany had been defeated because the Jews had betrayed them.

The current radical right, MAGA Trumpian Americans are similarly carrying on a crusade against the teaching of history in schools and universities. They are also attempting to whitewash the racial excesses of the Trump administration culminating in the January 6 insurrection, which the Republican National Congress incredibly described as “legitimate political discourse”.

They have objected to the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT), and banned its access in curricula in schools of some Republican states, notably Florida and West Virginia; other Red states will no doubt follow in the near future.

The teachings of CRT in America hold that “racism is inherent in legal institutions insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic and political inequalities between whites and non-whites, especially African Americans”. The study of CRT is to gain an understanding of the structural and institutional nature of racism in the USA, with the ultimate goal of achievement of equality and social justice for all race-based hierarchies. A goal for the incalculably distant future, if ever.

In reality, the teaching of CRT has become the new bogeyman for white Americans unwilling to acknowledge the country’s history of racist violence and its ubiquitous presence even today.

Instead of learning from the past to avoid similar tragedies in the future, white Americans look at the problem from a different angle. They feel that the atrocities committed by their ancestors should not serve to make them feel guilt which is both unjustified and undeserved. Strangely, they also believe that the hostility shown towards them by those whose ancestors endured such atrocities is also undeserved and without justification.

So the new strategy of today’s white racist politicians is to develop severe cases of selective amnesia. They pretend that the racial atrocities and genocide in its history has nothing to do with them. They are of the opinion that the teaching of history of Europeans invading the land of native Americans, and either decimating them or confining them to reservations; or the forced free labor of centuries of slavery which made America the economic powerhouse of the world, have no relevance to the problems faced by society today.

Most importantly, the teaching of such history will inflict feelings of guilt and shame in the psyche of the poor little white darlings because of the cruelty of their forefathers. Keeping these facts away from them will succeed in making these white kids innocent of racism and violence in the future. Sure it will. On the other hand, black kids will continue to feel the racial hatred they are faced with and endure on a daily and ubiquitous basis. Today and into the future, without the necessity of a study of history.

Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis is the main proponent for the enactment of restrictions to fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. He is also the current leader in the polls for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 2024. Head-to-head, DeSantis leads Trump by double digits, with the only other announced Republican presidential aspirant, Nikki Haley, far behind in the polls. Trump has already accepted the presidential challenge of DeSantis and made his signature initial salvo against a perceived opponent by creating a derisive nickname. DeSantis is now “DeSanctimonious” in his infantile mind.

Opposition to such unconstitutional strategies have given birth to a new, progressive movement comprised of people jealous of individual and societal justice, now known as Woke Culture. A movement which intends to enhance the social safety net, as opposed to the basic economic strategy behind Republican policies, which is to reduce and ultimately eliminate the safety net, including Medicare and Social Security, which they contemptuously dismiss as entitlements not appropriate in a capitalist society.

The words “woke” and “stay awoke” have crept into the vocabulary to add a twist to the old meaning of the word, which was simply the past tense of awake. Merriam Webster defines the new meaning of “woke” as being “Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues, especially issues of racial and social justice”.

As Democratic Congresswoman and Woke proponent, Barbara Lee writes: “We will only succeed if we resist the growing pressure to retreat into cynicism and hopelessness….We have a moral obligation to “stay woke” and take a stand and be active; challenging injustice and racism in our communities and fighting hatred and discrimination wherever it rises”.

Trump will, for one reason or another, not be allowed to run for the Presidency in 2024, although he still says he will run. Nikki Haley is the only other American to have announced that she would run against Trump. DeSantis is making all the right moves; he will be making a formal announcement soon. Other Republican Presidential hopefuls like Pence and Pompeo still show loyalty to Trump and his base, and will only declare their intentions if and when Trump drops out.

DeSantis, the most likely Republican nominee for 2024, is a much younger, better educated version of Trump. He espouses the Trumpian authoritarian, radical right policies – Trumpism without the baggage of Trump.

As Governor of Florida, he has already enacted a number of repressive laws in his state: banning certain controversial books; removal of Critical Race Theory from the curricula of schools and universities; denial of women’s reproductive freedom; increasing funding for conservative, Christian universities; denial of LGBTQ rights, where a person will be committing a crime by merely talking about sexual orientation; the use of gender-based toilets; and the banning of gay marriage. DeSantis has many more individual freedoms to be struck down in his radical right plans for the future, which will reverse the path towards a social democratic country towards which richest nation seemed to be heading, until the advent of the inglorious administration of the worst President in history.

Since the Republicans won the House of Representatives in the midterms last November with a wafer-thin majority, and a weak speaker controlled by the radical right, they have not even talked about passing legislation to benefit the country or the economy. Their one concern is to obstruct President Biden’s progressive policies, which have brought about amazing successes in the GDP, the economy and employment, in the two years of his administration.

Progressive measures championed by the Woke Movement – universal health care, affordable housing, free schooling, increased minimum wage, reproductive freedom, to name a few; benefits which are considered to be human rights in every other developed nation, will be delayed further, perhaps forever, if the Republicans win the 2024 Presidency.

Ron DeSantis, in a recent speech in Florida said “We will never surrender to the Woke crowd. Florida is where Woke comes to die”. If DeSantis, or any other radical-right Republican wins the Presidency in 2024, the United States of America will be where the progressive Woke culture, and any hopes for a compassionate and just nation, will also come to die. Indeed, where democracy itself will come to die in the oldest democracy in the world.