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Comment by zamalek | Hacker News Reader

"Woke" has always meant being grokking (in the truest sense) the plight of minorities and minority groups (e.g. LGBTQ+). In other words, people who have woken up to what's going on around them.

Using it as a slur, as originally done by Trump, places you into a very specific camp that is certainly nowhere near moderate.

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>Using it as a slur, as originally done by Trump, places you into a very specific camp that is certainly nowhere near moderate.

It really does not, and you thinking that it does is a good example of the kind of dogmatic "if you are not with me you are with the enemy" attitudes that make so many people annoyed with wokism.

There are many political moderates and even some leftists who are annoyed by wokism.

There are liberals and moderates who are annoyed by people who are aware of the plight of minorities? That political compass might need adjustment.

>There are liberals and moderates who are annoyed by people who are aware of the plight of minorities?

No, that's a poorly constructed strawman. Even conservatives care about the plight of minorities. There are liberals and moderates who are annoyed by "woke" leftists who believe acronyms are White supremacy [0], men can get pregnant, taking your top off at a White House event is a positive thing, etc.

[0] https://abc7news.com/sfusd-renaming-schools-board-meeting-sa...

No, that's a poorly constructed fallacy fallacy. It really isn't a strawman. What did I define "woke" as? And what did the gp comment say about sentiment towards it?

Being outraged that a japanese game based on european medieval fairytales setting doesn't have people on colour has nothing to do with plight of minorities, and that's just the latest example I've seen of woke grifters today.

There's a reason why this word is used as derogatory by majority of people, and it has nothing to do with Trump.

Trump had a lot to do with lifting the term into political rhetoric and it's been hollowed out of any specific meaning by now. With the milquetoast politicians and talking heads (and you) using it injudiciously as they do, being "woke" is now just ever so uncool.

Woke is broke, man.

That it can be associated with zealots... go find me a label that couldn't.

I can't remember the last time I came across "woke" used as a compliment. If it really was originally Trump that twisted it into a slur, he's achieved a genuine widespread (indeed, international) change in the language (along with cofveve and sundry other contributions).

I'll concede that it has changed, but the etymology is now nonsensical.

Any more than that of countless other words, including plenty that simultaneously carry two opposite meanings? (cleave, sanction, hew etc)

> "Woke" has always meant being grokking (in the truest sense) the plight of minorities and minority groups (e.g. LGBTQ+). In other words, people who have woken up to what's going on around them.

Exactly, and a "Nazi" is just a person who cares deeply about their country, a patriot.

So you would equate those who have empathy for minorities with a group who committed genocide?

Edit: the problem with this slippery slope argument is that the likes of Trump supporters are "just patriotic," but are also engaging in book and curriculum banning.

>So you would equate those who have empathy for minorities with a group who committed genocide?

Based on more than a decade on Reddit, I 100% believe that the mods and majority of the readership of /r/politics, /r/worldnews, and other large default subreddits would, yes, after taking power immediately commit mass murder of those who don't share their ideologies.

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