Jacobin Radio Dig: Woke Wars w/ Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, & Mike McCarthy
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Feb 27, 2025 Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, a philosophy professor at Georgetown and author, joins Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a Princeton professor and co-founder of Hammer and Hope, along with UC Santa Cruz's sociology director, Mike McCarthy. They dive into the backlash against diversity initiatives, the rise of white supremacy, and the pitfalls of liberal identity politics. The conversation critiques the corporate embrace of Christian nationalism and emphasizes the need for class solidarity amidst increasing racism, urging a reassessment of strategies in the fight for social justice.
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DEI's Purpose and Shortcomings
- Corporations embraced DEI initially to mitigate protests and negative publicity, similar to "socioeconomic capitalism" in the 1960s.
- While DEI initiatives address real workplace issues like racism, they often fall short of systemic change and are now under attack.
The Rise of Anti-Wokeness
- The diverse range of issues labeled "woke" gained political salience due to liberalism's empty response to movements like Black Lives Matter.
- This created an opening for the right to subvert these issues and turn them into a powerful political weapon.
Woke as MAGA's Ideological Banner
- "Woke" and DEI are now central motifs used to legitimize the MAGA authoritarian agenda, serving as a cultural framing for their politics.
- This framing allows the right to scapegoat and deflect from their lack of actual solutions to real societal problems.
