Why is everything considered “woke” now?
Woke and DEI have become new slang in the internet culture war, and while this spills into the real world, I argue we must recognize and push against it.
By: Jake Boyette
Around five years ago, the term “woke” was first used online. Unlike its actual use, it was used to bash on a new videogame, “Spiderman Miles Morales,” with the main contention being that the main character was Black.
The word was first being used during the Black Lives Matter movement of 2014 after the shooting of Michael Brown. It was used as a warning for Black Americans to “stay woke” to racial discrimination, but the term originates as far back as the civil rights movement in the 1960s, according to On_Education.
However, the “woke” I saw was being used as a derogatory word against minority groups. This was seen with other games like “The Last of Us Part II,” with a new transgender character and another with a female protagonist in “Life Is Strange.” The word had been changed from its roots in racial equality to a new insult. In the same vein over the past year, “DEI” has been used to suggest that television shows, comics or games are bad because it was made by people who were only hired based on their race or sexual orientation, rather than their abilities.
“DEI,” however, means Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, being a broad term for policies meant to prevent discrimination in the workplace and promote inclusivity. DEI has recently been marked by the Trump administration as an illegal and immoral discrimination program, according to the White House’s website.
While I disagree with the administration’s stance on the issue, since having a more inclusive world is good, it highlights how polarizing these terms have become.
“I’m not a political person, but any discussion, no matter what it is online, once they call it woke or anti-woke, is a political argument. You can’t even see a new game online without seeing it as woke or not. I saw it in Monster Hunter Wilds, the first thing I saw wasn’t the game, it was that it was woke or not,” said an online gamer who wanted to remain anonymous.
As someone who frequents many nerd spaces online, I have seen these terms used to slander comics, such as in October 2021 when DC first revealed that Superman’s son, John Kent, is bisexual and in love with a male reporter. While I wasn’t an avid reader of the comics, the discussion online caught my eye. There were YouTube videos and Reddit threads blasting the comic for being “woke” for including a bisexual main character and gay romance, which showed me the conversation was about prejudice rather than the stories being told.
This trend continues now to every nerdy space online. Last year, the tabletop game “Trench Crusade” had anti-woke “Warhammer 40k” fans excited, especially since many were upset with statements from Warhammer stating that it’s a game for everyone without prejudice. However, when the “Trench Crusade” developers expressed support for an inclusive community, the same anti-woke community attacked the developers online.
It’s a worrying trend, as YouTube videos proudly display homophobic, racist and sexist depictions of characters in video games, using “wokeness” and “DEI” as their excuse to attack them. “Woke” content detectors on Steam, as well as the Woke Content Detected Steam page, lists “overly pro LGBTQ+ messaging” and “female character player options” as reasons for games being considered “woke.”
The discussion around these topics remains controversial. As I tried to talk to an online group of gamers and tabletop players, they eventually canceled the interview and even banned me from their Discord server. It was shocking at first, but most people want to avoid these discussions as the conversation surrounding the terms has entered the larger U.S. political landscape.
In 2022, the Desantis administration in Florida introduced the Stop W.O.K.E. Act. The bill was made to prohibit teaching materials in Florida schools that talked about race-related concepts. The bill argued that teaching that a race was privileged or oppressed was discriminatory, according to the Free Speech Center.
The bill was blocked by a federal judge as it was ruled to violate the First Amendment. In online spaces, the word is used as a catch-all term for minority groups, while in politics, it’s being defined as a discriminatory or unlawful act.
“It’s really troubling to see. Online, it’s used as a slur for anything gay or anyone who’s not white. But in real life, you see the right-wing use it to attack teaching anything about transgender people, gay people, or discrimination against anyone who isn’t a white guy. It can be whatever they want it to be,” Evie Sherman, a transgender-identifying online gamer, told The Ledger.
The Trump administration made executive moves against DEI in workplaces and announced on March 4 that America will no longer be “woke.” It’s easy to see what he means by this, with his support in ending DEI practice in workplaces, as well as ending what is deemed as radical indoctrination in gender and race studies, according to the White House.
This feels silly to think about, as I’ve seen the term go from being used as an online slang term to now seeing the President of the United States use it against these vulnerable communities with his choices in policy.
The harm cannot be understated, as there has been a rising spike in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The more that these groups are put at risk through government action, calling them radicals only serves to put them at further risk.
As much as “woke” and “DEI” are nebulous concepts, we must understand them for what they are being used for now. It doesn’t seem like this will change, but that’s not the issue we should focus on.
We may not be able to take back the words, but it’s good to recognize the harm they now represent. Hate is still prevalent online, and with so many people who are resistant to talking about the issue, we may not find a solution. These words only worsen the problem, and hate should not be ignored as we must confront it directly.
