Throw ‘Woke’ out of the Democratic Party

In the United States, just like here, the woke movement causes disturbances. The expression is not new, nor are the problems identified, but since the emergence of Black Lives Matter, we are never done with measuring the benefits, the peculiarities and the effects of this movement’s manifestations.

Most of the time, the members of the movement have affinities with progressive politicians associated with the Democratic Party. The closeness is so evident that the Republicans have no trouble linking them in the eyes of their constituents.

It’s precisely because we often don’t bother with nuances that the complaints of a few extremists from this movement put the Democratic Party more and more regularly on the defensive.

Even if the Democrats have long embraced the fight against discrimination and racism, the propensity of many in woke culture to want to ban and censor often leads to extreme reactions. Right or wrong, the party is now being portrayed as hypersensitive, moralizing and too absolutist in the judgment of a good portion of the American electorate.

Since the victory of Eric Adams in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, many members of the party are asking themselves if they need to quickly put the brakes on the growing influence of woke culture within the political party.

Adams, a former police captain in New York, led a campaign centered on the interests of blue-collar workers, moderate voters and safety. With him, we are far from the slogan “Defund the police,” so dear to woke culture. Moreover, Adams, a Black candidate, will strengthen the New York Police Department budget to ensure the safety of his fellow citizens.

The victory of the former police captain, both by targeting his clientele and focusing on certain themes, is an extra indicator that the Democratic Party needs to maintain a balance between the intellectual elite and educated that it has acquired and the demands of a working class that is too often neglected.

Whether in preparation for the midterm elections in 2022 or in the presidential election of 2024, Democratic strategists are struggling with clever calculations to determine just how far they might slide to the left on the political chessboard. At this time, woke culture represents a risk factor that seems particularly high to me.

The Democrats hold control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. Since Joe Biden entered the White House, he has been able to satisfy the different factions, but the presence and influence of woke culture complicates things for him quite a bit. I do not believe I am mistaken in saying that he would like someone to lend a hand with this.

To accept or encourage the woke discourse could easily condemn Democrats to defeat in 2022. This movement, at once allied with and different from the progressive wing, allows Republican adversaries to structure their attacks, and it distances itself from the reality of middle-of-the road voters. Whether woke culture is right or wrong is of little importance to the election plan; it represents a liability for the Democratic Party.