We can always trust Barack Obama to show the type of leadership the world needs.
When, last week, he spoke out against “woke culture” online, he united opponents across the political divide. It struck a chord with me, too, because I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I even started writing about it a couple of times, but couldn’t quite articulate my thoughts clearly enough to submit a column. Now Obama has focused the issue nicely, so here we go.
What’s woke culture? It’s people being so woke (alert to injustice in society) that they will vociferously criticise others they perceive to be offensive. Let’s be clear: that’s OK, even laudable sometimes, such as when somebody shows racism or another form of prejudice. It’s absolutely right to attack injustice.
But – and this was Obama’s point – it has to be about more than public shaming. Activism should seek to bring about change, not just spark fights and increase division, and fully-functioning adults should understand people make mistakes and should be given a chance to change.
I admit it: I think I’m woke. I’m a socialist and I support a whole bunch of causes. I march in a Pride parade even though I’m straight. I’d probably enjoy the opportunity to punch a Nazi if I met one. I write a newspaper column that often expresses pretty fluffy views. And, if you’re someone who likes to say “political correctness has gone mad these days”, I might challenge you with a sentence that begins “Actually…”
But I don’t get into fights online, because it achieves little more than an effect on my blood pressure. And I have a real problem with “cancel culture”, the phenomenon of mass attacks or boycotts against someone – usually a celebrity who later claims to have been misquoted – who isn’t sufficiently woke. Obama is right. We should give people a chance to change.
“The world is messy,” he said. “There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws.”
I’m with him all the way. Nobody is simply good, or evil. I’m a leftie but I’d take tea with a Tory, in the right circumstances.
But I mean it about Nazis. There are limits.
