Racism Parading As Anti-Wokeness — Letters that should have been in the new york times

7.22.23

To the editor:

Ron DeSantis is a living caricature of the anti-wokeness campaign he champions (7.21.23 DeSantis faces swell of criticism over Florida’s new standards for Black history). He appropriates a term that has its origins in Black America’s fight against racism (essentially to be aware). He perverts its meaning as something threatening, offers an antidote to this newly defined danger and portrays himself as the protector or savior of those at risk. Case in point: middle schoolers should learn ‘slaves developed skills which … could be applied for their personal benefit.’ Does this mean it was not so bad to be enslaved? Or a slave owner? It should be kept in mind that the skills slaves developed (beyond survival) were for the commercial benefit of the slave owners and not acts of benevolence.

As a psychoanalyst, I think it is racist behavior (whether conscious or not) to distort the meaning of ‘wokeness’ and to then use this new meaning in an effort to whitewash our history. However imperfectly, Germany in relation to the Holocaust and South Africa in relation to apartheid have made efforts to confront the dark and damaging aspects of their histories. Our country as a whole would benefit from a similar effort.

Respectfully
Larry S Sandberg