There is a difference between an awakening and a reckoning.
Race relations in America have once again taken center stage in our social and political discussions. The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have become the foundation of national calls for an end to racism, especially as it relates to police brutality. Unfortunately, the shouts for social and legal justice for African Americans have also served as a rallying cry for racists. They have increasingly pushed back against protesters and Black Lives Matter with “heroes” such as Kyle Rittenhouse representing their willingness to use violence and murder to maintain systems of oppression in this country.
A central narrative in this renewed period of racial unrest has been the rise of the woke white person. The ‘Great White Awakening’ began back in 2016 amid the growing strength of the Black Lives Matter movement as a response to racial violence in places like Ferguson, Missouri. Originally, the concept of being ‘woke’ had applied to African Americans who were increasingly loud and aggressive in their anti-racism activism. For the black community ‘wokeness’ represented an awareness and commitment to no longer accepting the discrimination and violence being perpetrated against them.
Now the term has become a badge of honor for many White Americans seeking to express sympathy for African Americans and their continued suffering under systems of racism. “It suggests to white allies that if they walk the walk, they get to talk the talk.” This white awakening represents a paradox for many. On the one hand, there is a desperate need for increased awareness and action amongst White Americans when it comes to combating racism in America. But the movement has also led to criticisms that many whites embracing the idea of being woke are disingenuous and even subversive in their goals.
In the end, the value of a white awakening is based on the concept of responsibility. Specifically, it is the question of how much responsibility, and more directly guilt, are White Americans supposed to accept for the country’s history of systemic violence and discrimination against Black Americans? This one question explains the spectrum of ‘woke White Americans’ from the sympathetic activists to those at the other end who claim it is actually Blacks perpetuating racism. The entire argument is a strawman as White Americans can’t be woke precisely because from a racial standpoint they have already been living the dream.
The very term ‘woke’ undermines the discussion for one important reason: it begins with the implied argument that you cannot be held responsible for what happened while you were sleeping. For even the most sympathetic White Americans the idea of accepting some level of personal responsibility for their privilege or America’s legacy of racism against Blacks becomes a tall hurdle to jump. For many, the idea of ‘white guilt’ represents a chasm between recognizing the existence of racism and feeling responsible for its perpetuation and everyone knows it has always been there. The idea that a white American could no Rodney King, the Central Park Five, or James Byrd, but only come to realize the evils of racism after the killing of George Floyd is in my mind unbelievable.
White Americans confronting the long history and modern consequences of racism in America are not becoming woke, they are having a reckoning. An awakening suggests a fresh start based on an understanding that whatever happened while you were sleeping no longer matters now that you are awake. A reckoning involves self-reflection and personal acceptance of what happened with the goal of understanding what your role in it was. And it is the difference between the two that separates white Americans who are deeply committed to helping improve the black condition from those who think of Black Lives Matter as a fad.
In the end, failure or refusal to accept responsibility for America’s legacy of racism does not eliminate the concept from the conversation. Instead, it shifts the responsibility for the discussion to the African American community as the ones who increasingly bring up America’s history of racism. It manifests as frustration amongst liberal white Americans over seemingly endless anger within the African American community that from their perspective inhibits true racial healing. And for the racists themselves, it becomes proof positive of what they’ve always believed: it’s the agitation of the black community and not systemic racism built by white Americans that is the primary cause of all of the problems.
The struggle that the country is experiencing today is not due to a White awakening, but rather an increasing unwillingness amongst African Americans to go back to sleep. The protests and violence are not some new and unprecedented stage in American history driven by white Americans no longer willing to accept systems of racism against Blacks. They are the result of African Americans who have once again awoken to the reality that there has not been nearly enough change since the last time our eyes were opened. And like every other instance of black awakening many white Americans are becoming fatigued and are just hoping that our community will go back to sleep. President Trump believes he can force the issue by ending federal diversity programs and the incorporation of The 1619 Project in schools.
The real importance of this moment is not the sudden realization by millions of white Americans that racism exists. Instead, it is a signal being sent by black Americans that we will not go back to sleep. And just as with past awakenings of the African-American community, white supremacists and racists have been compelled to respond with the only tools they know: false narratives and the use of shame designed to bully Blacks back to sleep… and if need be, violence to knock us out. The difference between today and the past is the African American community is more equipped to stay awake. And this in turn is forcing a longer and deeper moment of reckoning within White America.
Dr. Darius Watson
