Wokeism Can Return Just As Easily As It Left
Editor's Note
For years, American politics have been defined by the advance of an enemy — variously labelled “wokeism,” “DEI,” “the civil rights regime,” “the deep state,” and more — and the occasional, usually ineffective pushback of Republicans.
With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, that enemy seems for the first time in living memory to be genuinely in retreat. Terry Schilling cautions, however, that we should not declare prematurely complete what is “likely to be a generational task.”
This is the first in a series of opinions on the status of the cold civil war in the second Trump era. Read other contributions as they become available here.
In the aftermath of President Trump’s victory last November, some on the Right have begun to pen obituaries for American wokeism. In December, for example, Chris Rufo proclaimed Black Lives Matter “finished” and its activists “discredited,” while my friend Josh Hammer wrote a few weeks later that Trump has “purged the crux of wokeism…from American public and private life.”
Of course, I don’t blame them and others for celebrating. It really does appear that wokeism is receding for the time being after suffering a decisive defeat at the ballot box. However, we should not mistake this retreat for a surrender. Our recent wins have been significant, but they are also fragile.
Last fall’s election showed the power of politics to transform the culture in short order. President Trump’s return to the White House has brought with it many other changes: the apparent rediscovery of free speech by Big Tech, a growing renunciation of DEI by corporate America, and a moderation of rhetoric in the legacy media, to name just a few.
But that power is a double-edged sword. What will happen the next time Democrats retake the White House? Will the anti-woke cultural changes we are witnessing now have any staying power? For anyone alive long enough to remember how quickly wokeism ascended to dominance, the answers to these questions will be obvious.
Plus, while wokeism may be less powerful now than it was, it is still by no means dead. Consider that when the House of Representatives voted earlier this year on prohibiting males in women’s sports (a 70-30 issue in most polls), only 2 Democrats out of 215 voted for the measure. When the Senate voted on the measure this week, not a single Democrat crossed party lines. Despite their recent losses, the political left continues to show few signs of compromise.
Killing wokeism is likely to be a generational task, not something that can be accomplished after one election. Although those of us in the anti-woke movement should be heartened by our recent gains, we should also take care not to become overconfident. Our work has only just begun.