The Demonization of 'Woke' Culture: An Analysis of MAGA's Campaign and Misrepresentation of Left-Leaning Individuals

1. Introduction

In the 21st century, "woke" culture has been the subject of much controversy. Some decry it as political correctness gone too far, while others tout it as the salvation of speech and human rights. This paper will parse the core of this controversy; in particular, it will endeavor to show that the "war on Woke" may be a misdirection campaign to cover the origins and avoid a substantive debate on the legitimacy of MAGA's objectives and the values it works for. Section 1 describes the campaign "Make America Great Again." In Section 2, we provide several examples of the ways that "woke" culture has been demonized in the USA since the 2016 campaign. In Section 3, we attempt to provide a sketch of the platform's core substantive, with the proviso that, to respect presentational requirements, 140 characters is all we have room for.

No single issue of contemporary public discourse has been more lambasted through the public sphere, wielded politically, or co-opted for "news" than "woke" culture. Especially in the US, constructing the left as "woke" has a long tradition. More recently, after a defeated attempt to impeach President Trump in 2019, "4 more years" became utterable in liberal media outlets, in meme and bumper sticker form. Constructing the left as "woke" is probably the most repeated strategic line of argumentation in the political campaign. It is a shot that rarely misfires because no single term conjures up for the alienated folk-kernel designated as voters the diatribe that is as "rare" and "America-bashing" as calling others "woke." In the context of globalized Venezuela or Bolivia, as well as the endless war on terror coming to a close, a "woke" population can be turned towards quite un-American-familiar policies.

1.1. Background on 'Woke' Culture

Why Trump’s MAGA hated ‘woke’ culture is curious, considering the term’s historical connotations and the legitimate aspects of being ‘woke’ have been co-opted as a slur for anyone who happens to hold leftist views. ‘Woke’ in the context of being aware of social and political injustices was actually used as far back as the 1930s. Black musician and jazz singer Huddie Ledbetter, also known as Lead Belly, was quoted in 1938 as saying, “Every Negro ought to go with the spiritual movement. As we sing the old songs and the new songs, the people of the world are beginning to get woke up, woke up, woke up!” The term ‘woke’ began to take off just as cultural black movements, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, found new life on US college campuses in the late 20th century. The word manifested in a protest chant in the 60s: “I woke, I woke! I have awoken more than a thousand times!”

The modern context of ‘woke’ as someone who is too socially aware is actually from Saul Alinski’s book "Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals," where he uses the term ‘being woke among unconscious citizens in the struggle for turning society’. This use of ‘woke’ is the most recent term’s usage many will recognize. The term now is synonymous with those on the political left who are aware of social injustices or care about strangers and internationalism. More or less, wokeness is associated with political correctness. Some people even argue that PC culture is liberalism mutating itself into something even more hysterical. And while the petroleum of all the above new 'woke' social movements is essentially white guilt, even Culture-Marxist Jews are now promoting woke culture as an ideology designed to weaken their white-proxy formed racial super competitors, on a perpetual deferral to non-whites.

2. MAGA's Campaign Against 'Woke' Culture

MAGA has recently excelled at vilifying a culture that identifies itself with the establishment, the progressives, and the establishment in America. They are both vilified and despised by advocates and the supporters of "awake." Prominent radical right-wing media personalities often speak of the "awakened" in the most unfavorable terms, accusing them of being either foolish or malignant. MAGA has publicized its disdain for this culture at a number of events, and many experts believe that the current rhetoric against "awake" is politically motivated. This article attempts to understand this a little better by examining the factors that have contributed to this decline in public relations and discussing the strategies MAGA has adopted to demonize "awareness."

They launched a campaign called "Parents Against 'Woke'" in Virginia's gubernatorial candidate's first TV ads in the summer of 2021, as parents' attention turned to issues directly affecting their children for the first time. All of the buzzwords are here, and none are spoken. Favorite unifying slogan at school-board meetings: "We come from many backgrounds but are united by our commitment to fight the spread of sunlight." The most fascinating of these phrases is that they answer the president's powerfully spoken "quiet whisper" just weeks after he was elected for writing off "rush happening in the desert" (by the way, Comrade, get your funding up to date). But we certainly like Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Alamo name-checked to the mention that will oil up our campaign engine as it navigates Columbus' Rocky Seas.

2.1. Origins and Objectives

MAGA is famously known for its red hats with the acronym MAGA stitched in white. This hat was not only a part of the presidential campaign that got Donald Trump into office but also of the political movement that rose him to the presidency. Over the past few years, MAGA has simultaneously developed its own campaign against a certain type of politics. The campaign that we call the demonization of 'Woke' culture is a misrepresentation of people who are leaning more to the left than the right. It is essentially a hate campaign against anyone who holds anything that does not align with Donald Trump supporter's politics on a whole range of issues: feminism, Black Lives Matter, gay rights, equity, etc. People supporting issues that the MAGA supporters have set out to fight against are not simply holding a certain political position, which might be debated. No; everyone in these social justice movements is ridiculed for embracing what is known as 'Woke' culture.

Throughout this piece, and in everything that follows, we are neutral with respect to the goals of the people who support MAGA. We are not interested in discussing to what extent MAGA moves are just, useful, or correct. It could be that we might disagree with the steps that people are taking in working towards achieving the goals of this group, but basically, that is none of our business. This piece is an attempt to show that what MAGA and the Republicans have been doing in their tricky moves has mostly changed the picture of ordinary life in the U.S. rather than any underlying fascist structures that our U.S.-based liberal institutions have been gradually putting into place since the country was founded.

3. Misrepresentation of Left-Leaning Individuals

Rather than discussing and offering counter-arguments to these left-wing or Democratic policies, the individuals that support them are often the true targets of such criticism. Negative generalizations are made about this group, arguments come across as presented by a monolithic force, and no ground is given or accepted by these individuals. Although a significant number of Americans identify as opposing politically correct culture, more Americans each year have come to identify with the liberal point of view of politically correct speech. This social change has obviously caused the world of politics to respond, and historically one of the tools used to oppose the fundamental change of a society is a rampant appeal of individual responsibility in comparison to the situational changes that must be made. Furthermore, we are able to clearly see how the majority of America, the white settlers of America specifically, crafted and latched onto narratives that glorified their namesake and painted those unwilling to adapt as primitive, superstitious, backwards, and insane.

It is not a coincidence that "awoke" America is now being looked down upon as overly sentimental, overly and wrongly empathic, naive, and overly trusting - essentially the last group they want to be, because all white Americans have done is craft narratives about their superficial fantasies. The next generation of humans is being raised on media coverage that shows liberals as SJWs (oftentimes true) that can't manage to feed themselves unless a social program prevents them from failing at producing food and feminists all in one breath, or leftist college kids who don't actually want an education (entirely false).

3.1. Ice T's Response to 'Woke' Culture

In October of 2019, rapper Ice T went public with his feelings about MAGA members attempting to poison 'Woke' culture. Speaking to a TMZ reporter, he said: "They're trying to pit it against you, keep you apart from the people who are being more alert to what should be happening. It's bullshit." As the public image of Ice T is that of the rapper heard on stage and on screen, many of his fans were taken aback by the statement. After all, Ice T, aka Tracy Marrow, is the freedom fighter from America's ghettos who battles with a passionate desire to end the oppression of poor, black, and brown families in the United States. What precisely did Ice T mean by "It's bullshit"? His intention is not clear from the video footage, and without the opportunity to probe the rapper's initial comments, the rest of his words and actions provide little more than mild, even vague, impressions. It is also unclear whether Ice T's use of 'they' refers to the US president, the White House, or MAGA itself.

Many a MAGA-TV pundit that day claimed Ice T had sided with Trump, "calling 'Woke' Culture bullshit." However, a full analysis of the rapper's sentiments tells us that this is not the case. He merely states that the intentional misrepresentation of 'Woke' by MAGA is bullshit. After watching the TMZ interview, Daily Wire's Paul Bois took that opinion, writing: "I didn't watch the video at first, I went by the soundbite given by The Blaze and other sources who clearly had an agenda." Even if Ice T were taking a stance against 'Woke,' this would still not betray the heart and soul of who the rapper is. "The whole deal is," begins Chuck D in his 1989 track By The Time I Get To Arizona, "We continue to front the bull."

4. Impact of Demonizing 'Woke' Culture

Stereotyping and generalizing a very diverse group of individuals degrades the opportunity for meaningful dialogue and compromises the well-being of those who might be associated with groups they are not politically aligned with. The demonization of woke culture by MAGA is pragmatic for some, as it keeps them in power now. But characterizing woke culture as nothing more than naivete or an evil cult is self-fulfilling and throwing the baby out with the bathwater. In all of this demonization and tension between the sides, it symbolizes a lack of meaningful discourse that is indicative of the abuse of the democratic process.

Although some, such as the aforementioned opinion writer, feel relieved from woke culture's forced politeness and rigidity, and others feel sheltered by a moral high ground, being lumped in with a multitude of others is only a hindrance to society. There is no room for political power to politics itself outside of the legislation of social reforms, and the digital age only makes everything run that much faster. Historically, we have not ended up in a better world: there is now democracy in every nook and cranny. And that means that no matter where you turn, someone else is going to be feeling gaslit and paranoid. No one comes out of this any better. Political disagreements have slowly but surely become a source of dehumanizing assumptions and hostility. We only seem to agree on our strongest and nastiest opinions on the exchange of culture and power.

5. Conclusion and Future Implications

In conclusion, the white MAGA supporters often described as the violent "radical right" and "white nationalists" are simply those who represent conservative American culture. These individuals have been targeted by both liberal activists and politicians seeking to eliminate their growing influence in the government. "Wokeness" has been used as an insult by liberals to bully MAGA into turning their backs on the conservative lifestyle. Turning "woke" into an insult, however, is simply the false representation of a person who may have a more liberal, left-leaning stance on certain issues. This action is analogous to turning "pro-life" into a negative stereotype. Every group in America should be granted their human right to free thought and speech. Denying others this freedom as a method in dismissing their background and lived experiences is similar to bullying.

What are the future implications of conflating white folks' "wokeness" into the negative definition? Solving this puzzle will be the interest of further research. Most notably is the integration of marginalized voices into the conversation. Other populations hurt by the harming effects of being intermingled with "woke" should also be addressed by allowing these populations access to agency. It is those who are being affected who are often best equipped to find the solutions to their own struggles.