Woke.

The word names a real stance. It also gets thrown into discourse as a character charge that closes inquiry.

Range of the word

Merriam-Webster defines woke as an adjective (1a) "aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)."¹ The dictionary notes that the word "developed in African American English and has been used to describe a state of active attentiveness to issues of racial and social justice since the mid-late 20th century. It gained widespread use and attention beginning in 2014 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement."²

The dictionary also documents a pejorative sense (1a, continued): "often used in contexts that suggest someone's expressed beliefs about such matters are not backed with genuine concern or action" and sense (2): "politically liberal or progressive (as in matters of racial and social justice) especially in a way that is considered unreasonable or extreme."³

The word has a range. It can name a stance of attentiveness to injustice. It also gets used as a smear to dismiss political opponents.

What it names as description

When woke describes, it names a stance or a conduct that can be checked:

• Attentiveness to racial injustice. A person or group advocating for specific reforms to address documented racial discrimination. The mechanism can be named: the unit (the policy or institution under scrutiny), the population (who is affected), the interval (when the conduct occurred), and the reform proposed.

When the word describes, it anchors to a verifiable stance or conduct.

What it does as a substitute

When woke substitutes, the speaker does not name the mechanism or the conduct. The word announces a character verdict about a person, a corporation, or a policy.

Illustrations of the test:

• "That policy is woke." Which policy? What does it do? If the speaker cannot produce the mechanism, the word is not describing.
• "They are pushing woke ideology." What is the ideology? What conduct does it prescribe? If the conduct cannot be named, the word is a character charge.
• "The company went woke." What did the company do or say? When? If the conduct cannot be named, the word is a slogan.

The substitution reallocates the burden of proof. The speaker no longer has to show what the policy does or how the conduct operates. The accused must now prove they are not the character named. Inquiry ends. The controversy is no longer about the policy or the conduct under discussion, but about the ideological standing of the person or institution charged.

When the charge is not a substitute

The charge is not a substitute when:

• The speaker names the conduct (what was done or said), the unit (the policy, the statement, the institution), the population (who is affected), and the interval (when it occurred).
• The claim is bound to an opened primary. If the policy text, the statement, or the institutional record shows the conduct, the word can describe.
• Historical or present-tense advocacy for racial justice that names the mechanism is not a substitute. The word woke in sense 1a names that stance.

The distinction is: does the word name a checkable object, or does it replace the controversy with a verdict?

The test

If someone claims a policy, statement, or person is woke, the test is:

1. Name the conduct. What does the policy do? What was said or done?
2. Name the unit. What is the domain? A law, an institution, a statement, a corporate policy?
3. Name the population. Who is affected?
4. Name the interval. When did this occur?

If the speaker cannot produce these four, the word is not describing. It is load-bearing.

This is the same discipline the Admiralty Code enforces: score the source and the claim independently. A stance can be named accurately or inaccurately. The test is whether the primary can be opened.

Charitable interpretation comes first. If the speaker has opened a primary and shown the mechanism, the word is describing. If the speaker has not, the word is doing work other than naming a fact.

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Related reading: Load-bearing terms · Racist.

Footnotes

1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "woke," https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woke. ↩

2. Ibid. ("Usage of Woke" section). ↩

3. Ibid. ↩