Post by addisona on Feb 14, 2022 15:20:33 GMT
Letter to the Editor: Politicians who invoke phrase 'woke mob'
Every time I hear politicians like Darren Bailey and Blaine Wilhour use the term “woke mob” in sound bites on local radio – as they frequently do – I shake my head in disgust. Either these guys have no clue and are just going along with a very strange crowd, or it’s something much worse.
The phrase “woke mob” is frequently tossed around by fringe group speakers as a calculated racial slur. Yes, it is something you would hear being angrily spat out at a white supremacist rally, for example.
Bailey and Wilhour are, of course, two very divisive people in our state. And, you will note, these guys (and their underling area copycats) never seem to identify exactly of whom it is they are speaking when they employ their mysterious “woke mob” phrase.
Is it the bogeyman who is “not one of us”? Hmmm. Haven’t we seen this tactic somewhere before now?
A little history and more education would serve us all well.
“woke” is a term in Black culture that goes back to the 1930s, when Black men were routinely prosecuted without just cause or very often lynched – ironically, by white mobs – before any kind of due process. The term encompasses societal consciousness, and being aware of events and dangers in the world around you, as well as your responsibilities.
In 1938, the term “Stay woke” was used in the recording of a protest song by Blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as “Lead Belly.” The song “Scottsboro Boys” described occurrences in Alabama when nine Black teenagers were likely falsely accused of raping two white women in 1931.
“I made this little song about down there,” Lead Belly wrote. “So I advise everybody, be a little careful — best stay woke, keep their eyes open.”
The “Scottsboro Boys” case, involving conviction by an all-white, all-male jury, is frequently cited as an example of miscarriage of justice in the U.S. legal system of the early 1900s. All convictions were overturned by way of assorted legal actions, including three posthumous pardons granted in 2013.
www.effinghamdailynews.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/letter-to-the-editor-politicians-who-invoke-phrase-woke-mob/article_1f13ccc0-8b99-11ec-95bc-2f45d7250fdf.html
Every time I hear politicians like Darren Bailey and Blaine Wilhour use the term “woke mob” in sound bites on local radio – as they frequently do – I shake my head in disgust. Either these guys have no clue and are just going along with a very strange crowd, or it’s something much worse.
The phrase “woke mob” is frequently tossed around by fringe group speakers as a calculated racial slur. Yes, it is something you would hear being angrily spat out at a white supremacist rally, for example.
Bailey and Wilhour are, of course, two very divisive people in our state. And, you will note, these guys (and their underling area copycats) never seem to identify exactly of whom it is they are speaking when they employ their mysterious “woke mob” phrase.
Is it the bogeyman who is “not one of us”? Hmmm. Haven’t we seen this tactic somewhere before now?
A little history and more education would serve us all well.
“woke” is a term in Black culture that goes back to the 1930s, when Black men were routinely prosecuted without just cause or very often lynched – ironically, by white mobs – before any kind of due process. The term encompasses societal consciousness, and being aware of events and dangers in the world around you, as well as your responsibilities.
In 1938, the term “Stay woke” was used in the recording of a protest song by Blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as “Lead Belly.” The song “Scottsboro Boys” described occurrences in Alabama when nine Black teenagers were likely falsely accused of raping two white women in 1931.
“I made this little song about down there,” Lead Belly wrote. “So I advise everybody, be a little careful — best stay woke, keep their eyes open.”
The “Scottsboro Boys” case, involving conviction by an all-white, all-male jury, is frequently cited as an example of miscarriage of justice in the U.S. legal system of the early 1900s. All convictions were overturned by way of assorted legal actions, including three posthumous pardons granted in 2013.
www.effinghamdailynews.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/letter-to-the-editor-politicians-who-invoke-phrase-woke-mob/article_1f13ccc0-8b99-11ec-95bc-2f45d7250fdf.html