Jimmy Cannon was a sportswriter, perhaps the most distinguished of his era, although he also served as a war correspondent during World War II and the Korean War. A disciple of Damon Runyon, Cannon is perhaps best remembered for a line he wrote about Joe Louis, the great heavyweight boxing champion: “He’s a credit to his race—the human race.”
Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. (Aug. 25, 1913 – Oct. 18, 1973), commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Pogo, which many consider the best comic in the history of the medium. Kelly is remembered for the classic line, ““We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip faced a backlash of cancellations Feb. 25, while defending remarks describing people who are Black as members of “a hate group” from which White people should “get away.” Dilbert, formerly an exceptionally successful newspaper cartoon, dealt with the life of a meek, hard working engineer, confronted with inept management and an unsympathetic “human resources” department. Dilbert seemed to stand for the little guy, someone we could relate to.
The backlash began following an episode of the YouTube show, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.” Among other topics, Adams referenced a Rasmussen Reports survey that had asked whether people agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be White.” Most agreed, but Adams noted that 26% of Black respondents disagreed and others weren’t sure. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the phrase was popularized in 2017 as a trolling campaign by members of the discussion forum 4chan, but then began being used by some White supremacists.
Adams has responded to the reaction to his diatribe by claiming that people “hate me and are canceling me.” That is, he is a victim of the “cancel culture.”
And, as reported in the Washington Post, an unnamed reporter from Newsmax asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: “Is President Biden woke?” The answer should be fairly clear since a reporter from Newsmax was allowed the credentials to a press briefing. In 2017 the BBC, CNN, the New York Times and others were excluded from an audience with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, with no reason given. Those permitted to attend included Fox News, Breitbart News, and the Washington Times.
The term “woke” (the colloquial, passively voiced past participle of wake) obtained the meaning “politically and socially aware,” and was first used in the twenty-teens. It was possibly first used in a documentary on BET (Black Entertainment Television) and has taken the meaning that someone is informed, educated and conscious of social injustice and racial inequality. Merriam-Webster elaborates, “Woke is now defined in this dictionary as ‘aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),’’ and identified it as US slang. It originated in African-American English and gained more widespread use beginning in 2014 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. By the end of that same decade it was also being applied by some as a general pejorative for anyone who is or appears to be politically left-leaning.”
On Feb. 21, the Washington Post published a report headed “Republicans use ‘wokeism’ to attack left — but struggle to define it – Conservatives attach the term to a host of policies they oppose, from transgender rights to climate change measures to socially responsible investing.” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) used his January inaugural address to warn of “the woke mob” and its “woke ideology.” The Post report summarized “Republicans have alighted on a strategy of decrying the dangers of “wokeism” and all things “woke” — catch-all terms they have weaponized to include a host of liberal policies and positions they don’t like.”
In other words, “Woke” stands for some self evident truths, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. It is about time that Republicans woke up.
Sam Uretsky is a writer and pharmacist living in Louisville, Ky. Email sdu01@outlook.com.
From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2023
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