Editor’s note: This is an edited version of a speech prepared for TOS-Con 2022. The written version retains the character of an oral presentation.
The problem of “wokeism” started as a small fire, but it is getting bigger.
I have spent decades fighting the ideology of Islamism. Through the foundation I established, the AHA Foundation, I am doing all I can to combat forced marriage, female genital mutilation, and so-called honor violence. When I first drew attention to these issues as an MP (member of Parliament) in the Netherlands, staunch multiculturalists—who purported to be humanitarians—were among my harshest critics. They thought my activism was stigmatizing and provocative. My quarrel with wokeism is not the first in which I have had serious disagreements with those promoting so-called social justice.
Of course, I believe in justice. And I believe justice requires a free, fair, and open society. In my view, wokeism is not compatible with either.
What exactly is wokeism? . . .
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1. Abas Mirzaei, “Where ‘Woke’ Came from and Why Marketers Should Think Twice before Jumping on the Social Activism Bandwagon,” The Conversation, September 8, 2019, https://theconversation.com/where-woke-came-from-and-why-marketers-should-think-twice-before-jumping-on-the-social-activism-bandwagon-122713.
2. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (New York: New York University Press, 2017), 28.
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6. Ludwig, “Wokeism in Private Schools: Go Woke or Get Out.”
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9. Berg, “The Problem with a ‘Woke’ Military.”
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