Racist Attitudes Beget Racists Acts

"Where Woke Went to Die"

Woke is now defined in Webster's as being “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),” and identified as U.S. slang. It originated in African American English and gained more widespread use beginning in 2014 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Racist acts in Jacksonville Florida are just a symptom of a much larger problem. It is important to understand that racism is a learned behavior. The most recent hate crime, the shooting of three innocent people, is the product of policies that tolerate, even promote racism in Florida and throughout the country. Racism, bigotry and hatred are encouraged, as can be seen in the increase in reported hate crimes.

The FBI released an update to hate crime stats in March with more complete data, and it showed the number of hate crime incidents had increased by 11.6 percent from 2021 to 2022.

The racism is coming from the top.

At a vigil for the three who were gunned down because of their skin color in Jacksonville, DeSantis got booed, and for good reason. His so-called anti-woke rhetoric encourages bigotry, racism and hatred. His take on slavery is pure Jim Crow.

The Associated Press got reactions from several sources directly affected by the shootings. 

Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon: “We must be clear, it was not just racially motivated, it was racist violence that has been perpetuated by rhetoric and policies designed to attack Black people, period.”

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan: “I’ve heard some people say that some of the rhetoric that we hear doesn’t really represent what’s in people’s hearts, it’s just the game. It’s just the political game. Those three people who lost their lives, that’s not a game. That’s the reality of what we’re dealing with. Please let us stop viewing each other as pieces on a game board and let us please start to see each other’s humanity. “

Rudolph McKissick, senior pastor of the historic Bethel Church in Jacksonville: “As it began to unfold, and I began to see the truth of it, my heart ached on several levels.”

In contrast, the reaction from Governor Ron DeSantis makes no mention of the climate of hate that fomented the shooting. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: “This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions. He took the coward’s way out."

DeSantis chose to focus on the perpetrator rather than the bigger picture of the climate of hate that makes such acts more prevalent. The others who commented didn't miss the point. They got the bigger picture.

(The seven harmful racial practices are from the NEA.)