Speaking Power To Truth

In a deeply divided country there is one issue that seems to have broad bipartisan consensus. Democrats have cheerfully joined Republicans in declaring the death of “wokeness.”

Among the range of geopolitical and national issues that threaten sanity and security as Trump II looms, this small death won’t prompt a whimper of grief or gesture of empathy. It makes me very, very sad.

The terms “woke,” “politically correct,” “cancel culture,” “trigger warnings,” “intersectionality,” “safe spaces,” “social justice,” “Latinx,” “BIPOC” and others have been fodder for a barrage of criticism from both flanks. A counter-woke lexicon has arisen including, “snowflake,” “culture of victimhood” and much more.

The anti-woke bandwagon has so many passengers I’m surprised the wheels can still turn.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs have been mischaracterized and blamed for almost as many societal ills as Critical Race Theory (CRT). And damnit, we’re tired of our children having to feel guilty for being white!

Now, in the aftermath of the election of a serial sexual offender, racist, vulgarian, multiple felon, fraudster, thief, traitor, insurrectionist, liar . . . , the blame goes to “identity politics.” Yes, at a time when white “identity” is enjoying a singularly banner year, the fault lies with those of care to give a shit or two about identities other than our own.

Oh, I don’t doubt that “identity politics” contributed to Harris’s loss. A significant majority is clearly fed up with attention to sexual identity, racial identity and gender identity. I mean really . . . how dare we?

New York Times pundits Maureen Dowd and Bret Stephens were among who elbowed their way onto the bandwagon. Dowd began her latest with, “Some Democrats are finally waking up and realizing that woke is broke.” So clever, Maureen.

Stephens opined, “A big part of the Democratic Party’s problem is that it’s become too associated with a type of cultural progressivism that rubs many people the wrong way.” A wealthy conservative who winters (and hides from the pandemic) in France certainly would never want to rub people the wrong way.

He actually wrote this with no apparent self-awareness: “Today, the Democrats have become the party of priggishness, pontification and pomposity.”

The vast majority of Times readers, ostensibly Democrats, chimed in with their own scolding of progressive “identity politics” overreach. I commented:

“Latinx, BIPOC, trans rights and other such things are emblematic of a society that cares. These terms and other gestures are harmless to those of us (me, you, most Times readers) with great privilege. So-called “wokeness” was the most encouraging advance in decades. The abandonment by the political "left" is heartbreaking to many of us. And I'm a 77 year-old, white, heterosexual veteran, not a wet behind the ears college kid.”

Then there are folks like this:

“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” said Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts. “I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”

Well, Seth, if you find me a child - just one - who was "run over" by a trans boy, I'll find you thousands of trans kids who are suicidal and humiliated by the smug retreat from "wokeness." Your glib, entitled honesty was certainly brutal, as you threw my trans friends under the bus to make political hay.

My sadness comes from knowing so many vulnerable women, gay folks, trans women and men, people of color and others who have no economic or political power. The only power they’ve ever had is the power of their voices and actions, individually and collectively. Conservatives have never supported them in significant numbers. Now Democrats are distancing themselves too, because they don’t like their acronyms or the efforts they make to carve out islands of solidarity in a hostile culture.

Over the years an exercise of integrity among progressives was to speak truth to power.

Now it seems both parties are perfectly content to see power turned against truth.