For now
This is a very interesting finding in a new USA Today/Ipsos poll about Americans’ view of “woke”, the epithet being hurled by Ron Desantis with virtually every breath he takes:
Republican presidential hopefuls are vowing to wage a war on “woke,” but a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds a majority of Americans are inclined to see the word as a positive attribute, not a negative one.
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed say the term means “to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices.” That includes not only three-fourths of Democrats but also more than a third of Republicans.
Overall, 39% say instead that the word reflects what has become the GOP political definition, “to be overly politically correct and police others’ words.” That’s the view of 56% of Republicans.
The findings raise questions about whether Republican campaign promises to ban policies at schools and workplaces they denounce as “woke” could boost a contender in the party’s primaries but put them at odds with broader public opinion in the general election.
Independents, by 51%-45%, say “woke” means being aware of social injustice, not being overly politically correct.
“Most Americans understand that to be woke is to be tuned in to injustices around us,” said Cliff Young of Ipsos. “But for a key segment of Republicans who make up the Trump-DeSantis base, ‘woke’ is a clear trigger for the worst of the politically correct, emerging multicultural majority.”
A new rallying cry in the culture wars
In the early 20th century, “woke” was generally used as a call for Black people around the world to “wake up” to racial oppression. After the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the term gained wider usage to describe awareness of the continuing legacy of racial discrimination and systematic oppression.
Now conservatives have adopted the term as a rallying cry in the culture wars, signaling their opposition to everything from the teaching of the ongoing effects of slavery to the use of gender-neutral pronouns.
“We will never surrender to the woke mob,” Ron DeSantis declared in his victory speech when he won a second term as Florida governor in November. Former President Donald Trump last week accused President Joe Biden of engineering “a woke takeover of the entire federal government.”
Even South Carolina’s Sen. Tim Scott, a Black man who discusses how racism has affected his life, has derided “woke corporations” and “woke prosecutors” as negative forces in American life.
Trump has announced his campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination, and DeSantis is seen as likely to be his leading challenger, although he hasn’t formally announced his candidacy. Scott has also indicated he is considering a presidential bid.
Republicans, by 60%-14%, say being described as “woke” would be an insult, not a compliment. Independents – by 42%-32% – agree. Democrats, by 46%-25%, say it would be a compliment.
Across party lines, about 1 in 4 say they don’t know enough about what the term means to judge whether it is a compliment or a slur.
The USA TODAY/Ipsos poll of 1,023 adults was taken Friday through Sunday using KnowledgePanel, Ipsos’ online probability-based panel. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
‘Critical race theory’ and the power of words
On issues of race and gender, language matters.
Americans by close to 3-1, 72%-26%, support teaching “the ongoing effects of slavery and racism in the United States” in public schools, a question asked of half the sample. That includes overwhelming numbers of Democrats and independents and close to half of Republicans (46%).
But in response to a different question asked of the other half of the sample, those surveyed oppose by 53%-41% the teaching of “critical race theory,” which holds that systemic racism is institutionalized in America to the advantage of white people.
The phrase particularly resonates among Republicans, who by 81%-15%, oppose the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.
Americans overwhelmingly oppose, by 76%-21%, efforts by state governments to ban certain books from school classrooms and libraries. Last year the nonprofit group PEN America reported that school districts in 26 states had moved to ban some books, often ones that relate to race or gender identity.
The opposition to state bans crosses party lines, including 86% of Democrats, 78% of independents and 66% of Republicans.
On gender, a wide partisan divide
The partisan divide is gaping on matters involving gender.
Overall, those surveyed overwhelmingly oppose the use of gender-neutral pronouns to describe someone, 61%-36%.
But while almost all Republicans oppose gender-neutral pronouns, 87%-11%, Democrats support them by double-digits, 61%-37%.
The clashing views are similar over whether people should be able to identify as someone other than “man” or “woman” on government documents such as passports and birth certificates. Overall, Americans oppose the idea by 61%-36%.
While 88% of Republicans oppose it, however, 60% of Democrats support it.
I’m actually surprised that they were able to get respondents other than Fox news vieweres who are even aware of the term. But I guess people are more tuned into this culture war garbage than I realized.
Ron DeSantis is busy making this a major political thing by saying it over and over and over again. They clearly think they are on to something big, probably based upon his 2022 campaign success. But the exit polls show that DeSantis really won on the issue of inflation not culture war stuff. Abortion, which favored the Democrats came in a distant second followed by crime and immigration. He won 52% of the women vote there whereas Biden was 51% in 2020 soI don’t see that as much of a sea change. The real reason he won so big was because of the age demographics. Old people vote in mid-terms and Florida is full of old people. The younger voters didn’t turn out.
So, this culture war gambit, designed to win over the MAGAs, could end up being an albatross around his neck, even in primaries in blue states where there are GOPers who aren’t really into the book banning and LGBTQ shaming “woke” strategy. It certainly isn’t a magic bullet.