Anti-Woke Commentator Can't Define Woke

Bethany Mandel, a pundit for conservative media outlets, co-authored a book on what she calls the “present woke indoctrination” that is said to be occurring across the country. But, she was unable to provide a definition for the term that was at the very core of the discussion.

For roughly half of a minute, Mandel couldn’t muster up an answer when asked what is her definition of “woke” during an appearance on “Rising” a show produced for the web by news outlet The Hill.

“This is going to be one of those moments that goes viral,” Mandel said, a prediction that was quite accurate.

Mandel, who authored a book released just weeks ago, “Stolen Youth: How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation” eventually offered that, “woke is something that’s very hard to define,” and said it had to do with reorganizing society “to create hierarchies of oppression.”

“It’s hard to explain in a 15-second sound bite,” Mandel offered apologetically.

“Take your time.” Briahna Joy Gray, host of Rising responded.

Co-host of Rising, Robby Soave, who is the conservative counterpart to Gray’s liberal views, intervened on Mandel’s behalf and said, “It’s definitely something that you know what it is when you see it.”

Because of the proliferation of social media, the term “woke” is now commonly used to indicate a heightened awareness of the structural prejudice and inequality that exists in society. The killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 catapulted the term to the forefront of conversation on Twitter.

In recent years, right-wing commentators and politicians, most notably the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, have appropriated the term “woke” in order to mock progressive ideas and condemn progressive principles. The vast majority of people who use the term do not clarify what they mean by doing so, which leads some observers to the conclusion that the term is being used as a racial dog whistle in order to whip up conservative supporters.

Mandel responded to all of the criticism she has faced on Twitter and described the incident as a “viral brain fart.”

She also proffered her definition of “woke”: “A radical belief system suggesting that our institutions are built around discrimination, and claiming that all disparity is a result of that discrimination. It seeks a radical redefinition of society in which equality of group result is the endpoint, enforced by an angry mob.”

Mandel also offered some background context for her interview performance. She claimed that prior to the commencement of the interview that she said that Gray was heard “demeaning parenting in general in colorful and nasty terms, stating parents only have kids in order to perpetuate their own narcissism.”

She said that “as a mom of six,” the comment “threw me off just a bit.”

“Are you saying you were the victim of a microaggression and this affected your performance,” wrote one commenter.

Thomas Chatterton Williams writer for The Atlantic offered his own feedback, tweeting, “This reasoning has to be rejected even when we are feeling sorry for ourselves: it’s the foundation of ‘triggering’ and ‘microagressions.’”