Francine Prose, a former president of PEN American Center, has weighed in on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recent comments about "Woke 1.0" in an ABC This Week interview. Prose, who admits to being a fan of AOC, expressed surprise at the congresswoman's use of the term "woke," which she says has been "weaponized by the far right to mock and discredit anyone who supports racial justice, economic equity, universal healthcare."
AOC's Call for Moderation
In the interview, AOC quoted a political ally as saying, "Woke 1.0 was crazy," and called for moderation of radical positions like defunding the police and the military. She explained that during the Covid lockdown, "There was a huge opening. The doors were really open to entertain any and every policy that was trying to get us to a better place. But the rhetoric we used at that time is not the rhetoric we use today." Prose acknowledges that while she wishes AOC had used different language, she understands the suggestion.
The Problem with 'Woke'
Prose notes that the term "woke" has roots in Black slang, originally meaning to stay alert to the dangers of prejudice and white supremacy, but has become a derogatory synonym for "politically correct." She has asked colleagues at the college where she teaches to avoid the word.
University Policies and the Backlash
Prose cites an essay by Tyler Austin Harper in The Atlantic, where Harper explains how policies at Bates College, requiring every department to offer courses on white supremacy and bias, led him to abandon academia. Such courses included a math class on "the role of mathematics as a gatekeeper and driver of injustice." Though some extreme policies were rescinded, Harper felt he could no longer function with personal freedom and integrity on a college campus.
Prose argues that such heavy-handed interventions made it easy for the far right to ridicule progressive ideals and characterize constitutional guarantees like freedom of speech as "radical" and even "communist." The infighting between progressive and centrist Democrats also allowed the right to dismiss worthy goals like universal healthcare and ending inflation.
A Call for Unity
Prose concludes, "I agree with AOC. We need to focus on what's politically viable, on what is attainable, on what the American people so desperately need." She urges, "Let's concentrate on coming together to represent the real needs and interests of our citizens and not on the labels – 'woke' or ultra-conservative – that only deepen the problems of a nation in which the average family must so often choose between feeding the children or paying the rent."
