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</div><div>=</div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/right-wing-language/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/right-wing-language/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> m semrau</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong>Right-wing operatives have recently mounted a campaign</strong> against the idea and practice of "wokeness." The word has the pretense of a neutral reference, but is increasingly used to debase and <b>belittle the underlying meaning of anti-racism and anti-bigotry. Similar rhetorical tactics have a long history in conservatism, as they allow the GOP to obscure policy objectives, while simultaneously evoking negative and positive emotions. Overall, the GOP benefits from imprecise language soaked with connotation. Unfortunately, journalists and <a href="https://www.newspressnow.com/multimedia/national_video/carville-why-wokeness-is-a-problem-for-the-democratic-party/video_6f2e5302-fa95-501c-a026-89320b95e07b.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">some liberals</a> keep falling for it.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the case of "woke" and "wokeness," conservatives are undermining a positive idea with derisive figurative language. Consider a converse example, in which the Republicans advanced an ugly principle through positive framing: waterboarding. It was described as "enhanced interrogation" by conservatives, and that was repeated by the press corps. However, if you actually describe what's involved in waterboarding—making a person temporarily experience drowning—Americans respond with repulsion. Conservatives knew this, so they chose to be evasive. "Enhanced interrogation" is more palatable than both "torture" and "simulated drowning."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Language can be exploited to great political effect. Words convey meaning two ways. By denotations, the actual real-world reference of a given word or phrase. And by connotations, the feelings they evoke. The GOP systematically uses language that obscures denotation and advances connotation. The case of "wokeness" is not so different from "enhanced interrogation," but, in this case, the underlying denotation—awareness of social injustice—is good whereas the connotations are unfortunately negative. As they did with "enhanced interrogation," conservatives are using figurative language to obscure deeper principles and create a fog of feeling, rather than reason.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The GOP's use of such language—figurative, imprecise, but laden with connotation—gained prominence in their backlash to the civil rights movement.</b> After a certain point, it was of little benefit to conservatives to explicitly state they were opposed to equal rights for Black Americans, so they adopted fuzzy terms. This strategy was famously <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">outlined</a> by the late Lee Atwater, a chief architect of modern GOP rhetoric:</font></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.543px; background: rgb(245, 245, 245);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You start out in 1954 by saying, '[n-word], [n-word], [n-word].' By 1968 you can't say '[n-word]'—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states' rights, and all that stuff, and you're getting so abstract. Now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites. … 'We want to cut this' is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "[n-word], [n-word]."</font></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Here, Atwater specifically argued that, to advance racism, conservatives should embrace abstractions, given that racial slurs no longer confer electoral success. This tradition of linguistic manipulation continues to pervade our discourse. From "illegal alien" to "states' rights" to "politically correct" to now "woke," the Republicans have perfected the art of language devoid of concrete specifics, but charged with big feels.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That language has this power presents a challenge for journalists. Reporting should be informative and neutral. Yet with increasing frequency, the press corps uncritically adopts whatever linguistic frame has currency. The result, predictably, is neither informative nor neutral. What do Republicans actually mean when they criticize "wokeness?" It's unclear. Yet journalists repeat their rants without clarification.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consider what "woke" <em>actually</em> denotes. The origin of the expression is unknown, but references to "staying woke" in African-American English can be <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">traced back</a> to Lead Belly's recording of "Scottsboro Boys," a song about young Black men who were falsely accused of rape. Recently, "woke" gained prominence during the 2014 Ferguson protests when it was used to signal awareness of anti-Black racism. "Woke" then proliferated online where its meaning broadened to describe anyone who was aware of systemic racism. Finally, the meaning shifted to encompass an awareness of bigotry in general. <b>Now, lexicographers <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woke" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">define</a> "woke" as "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)."</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While the current use of "woke" arose from African-American English, "awake" as a metaphor for awareness has deep cross-cultural roots. Wakefulness as revelation is referenced throughout both Buddhism and Christianity as well as in the work of poets and playwrights. It is, in fact, the same metaphor underlying the "Age of Reason"—or the Enlightenment—such that Kant wrote, "Enlightenment is the release of man from a state of bondage. … Have the courage to use your own understanding!" "Wokeness" was present in American political movements long before BLM. Republicans—proud descendants of Abraham Lincoln—might be interested to learn that an early anti-slavery faction within their own party called themselves "<a href="https://daily.jstor.org/abolitionist-wide-awakes-were-woke-before-woke/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Wide Awakes</a>."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">So, what "wokeness" denotes is overwhelmingly positive: awareness of bigotry and concomitant opposition. Yet, recently, as conservatives have co-opted it, the term has become derisive. "Woke" people are unserious. You're allowed to roll your eyes at them, because they are sensitive and sanctimonious. In this sense, "woke" has unfortunately become a <b>dysphemism</b>. Whereas <em>euphemisms </em>soften underlying meaning (the dead "passed away," for instance, or the woman is "with child"), <em>dysphemisms</em> do the opposite (the dead "croaked', for instance, or the woman got "knocked up"). DEVIL DEMON TERM</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What's denoted by "woke" has been eclipsed by connotations. When we hear "woke" now, we do not think of its history as a metaphor for awareness. We certainly do not think of the Enlightenment. We think of pious scolds. And then, perhaps unwittingly, we transfer this pejorative connotation to the underlying principles of social justice.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>We can't expect rhetorical honesty from the GOP, but we can ask more of the press corps that reports on conservatives' use of "woke." When reporters repeat the GOP's derision of "wokeness" without explaining the underlying denotation of the word, they are serving as a conduit of conservative propaganda.</b> Such reporting is neither informative nor neutral. The meaning of what's said is, at best, obscure and imprecise. Failure to report the underlying meaning allows the negative connotations to prevail.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So, if an elected official claims "wokeness" is bad, journalists should ask them what they mean! Journalists could ask, for example: "Is anti-racism bad? What about anti-bigotry in general?" If they refuse to define what they intend when they deride "wokeness," journalists should do it for them by citing the dictionary definition.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We are in an existential battle. The forces of bigotry are strong, and, in many ways, our electoral system allows them to flourish. However, the evidence is clear: the actual principle of "wokeness"—the broad "awareness of social injustice"—is increasingly popular. 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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>----</b></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">v p at rnc namechecks fed officer killed on OAKLAND winkwink, but does NOT say it was RW wacko boogaloo boy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/how-trump-created-a-permission-structure-for-the-shootings-in-kenosha/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/how-trump-created-a-permission-structure-for-the-shootings-in-kenosha/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...While Neumann’s remarks about the president’s mishandling of the coronavirus crisis are extremely important, what she has to say about the threat posed by white supremacists is incredibly timely. She talked about the fact that, starting in 2017, DHS became increasingly concerned about the growing threat posed by nationalist groups. Neumann goes on to say that Trump’s words and actions “gave permission to white supremacists to think that what they were doing was permissible.”</font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The reason why this is so timely is that, in the midst of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, three people were shot—two fatally—on Tuesday night. The story about what happened is still developing. But here’s <a title="what we know" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/investigators-focus-on-armed-white-vigilantes-after-2-shooting-deaths-in-kenosha-protests_n_5f465ffbc5b6cf66b2b131c2?qz3&guc_consent_skip=1598463612" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">what we know</a> so far:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: none !important;"><p style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The suspect, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, was <a title="reportedly arrested" href="https://twitter.com/npenzenstadler/status/1298667368554606593" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reportedly arrested</a> in his hometown of Antioch, Illinois, and charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday…</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Investigators say they are focusing on a group of men with guns who were lined up outside some businesses a few blocks down the road from the courthouse, [Sheriff David] Beth <a title="told The New York Times" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/us/kenosha-shooting-protests-jacob-blake.html" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">told The New York Times</a>. <b>Ostensibly, the vigilantes were there to “protect” businesses from fires that had been set during previous nights of demonstrations.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Some may have been drawn to the city through a Facebook post by a group calling itself the Kenosha Guard, which</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> encouraged “patriots” to “take up arms</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> and </span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">defend our city tonight from the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> evil thugs,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">” </span><a title="The Verge reported" href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/26/21402571/kenosha-guard-shooting-facebook-deplatforming-militia-violence" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The Verge reported</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.</span></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Householder and Scott Bauer <a title="have provided" href="https://apnews.com/97a0700564fb52d7f664d8de22066f88?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">have provided</a> us with some information about Rittenhouse.</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: none !important;"><p class="Component-root-0-2-60 Component-p-0-2-52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Much of Rittenhouse’s Facebook page is devoted to praising law enforcement, with references to Blue Lives Matter, a movement that supports police. He also can be seen holding an assault rifle.</font></p><p class="Component-root-0-2-60 Component-p-0-2-52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other photographs include those of badges of various law enforcement agencies, including the Chicago Police Department. All of the badges have a black line across them — something police officers do with black tape or other material whenever an officer is killed in the line of duty.</font></p><p class="Component-root-0-2-60 Component-p-0-2-52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a photograph posted by his mother, he is wearing what appears to be a blue law enforcement uniform as well as the kind of brimmed hat that state troopers wear.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As of Wednesday, four people have been shot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with two dead. The people responsible for that violence are law enforcement and a gunman involved with a vigilante group that referred to the protesters as “evil thugs.”</b> But we have a president who has never called out the groups that are <a title="actually responsible" href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/07/29/how-white-supremacists-are-using-protests-to-fuel-racial-tensions/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">actually responsible</a> for spurring most of the violence. Instead, he sends federal troops to attack peaceful protesters.<b> As Neumann pointed out, Trump’s words and actions have communicated that what these vigilantes are doing is permissible. It all started before he was even elected.</b></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div>=</div>