Wokeness (a modest defense)

1

I was searching for a cartoon of an irrational, ranting person to go with a bit of humor writing. Before long, I found just the image.

Well, almost.

The facial expression was right. The body language was dead-on. The art was hilarious.

The problem? The cartooned person was female. And had red hair.

Women, especially redheaded women, don’t need more crap, I thought. I continued my search and found a better cartoon. It wasn’t quite as funny, but that’s okay.

Spare me the “can’t they take a little ribbing?” speech. That’s a bully’s defense.

2

Near my house sits an Asian restaurant whose name sounds rather unseemly when pronounced in American English.

It struck me as funny, so I made a meme.

I sat on it a while. In the end I decided against posting it.

Asian people don’t need more crap, I thought.

Spare me the “laughing-with-not-at” speech. That, too, is a bully’s defense.

3

“It’s getting to where you can’t make fun of anyone,” a friend whined.

Not so. Some movements, institutions, and individuals deserve mockery. I submit Christian nationalism, Fox News, and Trump.

But an entire population is rarely fair game, and a disadvantaged population never is. Mocking the latter arguably constitutes a verbal hate crime, contributes to violent hate crime, and helps inure the public to the prevalence and horror of violent hate crime.

Some of my right-leaning friends (how far do they lean? Clunk!) criticize me for trying to be “so woke.”

I find it revealing, and not a little disheartening, that anyone would make a call to awareness, empathy, and common courtesy into a pejorative.

That, too, is a bully’s defense.

♦