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On Monday, April 1, Chaya Raichik joined Indiana US Representative Jim Banks in speaking to a small group of Indiana University students. Graduate adviser Bryce Greene was in attendance and recording the event. In one of the videos, Green asks Raichik to define the term “woke,” which she fumbles to answer.
Greene shared several videos to his X (Twitter) account from Monday’s spectacle. His first videos show campus officers removing two protestors from the room as they shouted, “How many kids did you kill today?” Campus police said they asked the protestors to leave because they were being disruptive.
War on Woke
As the event carries on, Chaya Raichik begins to rant about wokeness taking over schools, college campuses, and the workforce. “You can’t do anything in peace without this wokeness being shoved down your throat wherever you go,” she says before asking Green if he has a question.
Greene responds, “I do; how do you define wokeness?”
Raichik then provides her definition. “Wokeness is the destruction of normalcy and…and um [sic],” she says before handing the question off to Banks to finish her thought. Greene compared the answer to the viral moment when conservative commentator Bethany Mandel was asked to define the same term.
Banks then says it’s “anti-Americanism” and “I’m sick and tired of the [talk] that America isn’t worth fighting and dying for.” He sums it up to wokeism being an attack on the American way of life.
Greene then prompts some questions for clarification, asking, “Al Qaeda attacks American ways of life. Are they woke?” Banks replies, “Maybe in some ways.”
Then Raichik brings up a product of Banks’ own design called the Anti-Woke Caucus. The group consists of 26 Republican Congress members who hope to defund and expose leftist activities of federal agencies. Raichik refers to it as “the most based caucus in Congress,” which receives chuckles from several audience members.
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Before the mini-video series wraps up, Raichik sets aside time to talk about DEI. She mentions companies she previously called out for having some form of diversity, equity, and inclusion policy. To sum up her thoughts she simply says that DEI is code for “less Whites.”
Response from Participants and Attendees
Despite having an audience of roughly 30 people, Banks shared a post in which he said, “Great turnout by college Republicans at IU.”
Greene concluded his posts by saying, “I don’t think [Chaya Raichik] cares that she’s just a political mascot. They can use anyone, even a woman with no signs of higher intelligence who is famous literally for watching TikTok and complaining.”
Why is Defining “Woke” So Hard?
Many conservatives pull from a revolving catalog of buzzwords. Critical Race Theory, Woke, and DEI have grown in popularity over the last few years. Some Republicans use these innocuous terms as a means to attack any policies or principles rooted in progressive values.
Before the term woke was co-opted as a bad thing by Republican leaders like Ron DeSantis, it was used exclusively in Black culture. At its core, “woke” defines being politically conscious and socially aware. Songs like Childish Gambino’s 2016 chart-topping hit “Redbone” have featured the term.
Two years before the single was released, protestors were using the term “stay woke” in Ferguson, Missouri. On August 9, 2014, Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. Over the following days, as protestors took to the streets, they would advise each other to stay woke to police violence and similar safety threats.
Now, nearly ten years later, it serves as a weapon against diversity initiatives that aim to create a more inclusive and respectful American experience.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The article’s use of relevant quotes and anecdotes adds depth and authenticity to the discussion.