Scott Rhee's Reviews > Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History

Sometimes, a good idea can go too far. Good intentions can, sometimes, lead to unintended negative consequences.

Case in point: Wokeism.

Being “woke” used to be, in my opinion, a good thing. It still can be, if it’s referring to its original intent and meaning, which is simply a consciousness of social injustices such as racism, sexism, homo- and transphobia. It has come to encompass an awareness of a whole range of other “-isms” today.

Unfortunately, wokeism has been usurped by some people who simply wield it as a weapon of mass distraction. They use it as a way to feel morally superior and to justify actions motivated mostly by emotional reasoning, not logical reasoning. Anymore, being “woke” isn’t just being outraged, it’s a competition with other woke people that one is way more outraged.

Nellie Bowles, a “woke” journalist formerly with The New York Times, in her book “Morning After the Revolution”, began to notice that the honeymoon was over with wokeism when she started to piss other woke people off by simply asking questions. Not the “wrong” or “inappropriate” questions. Any questions.

When she began to question why Patrice Khan-Cullors, the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter organization, had just bought a $1.4 million mansion—-her fourth house—-and with what money, she was accused of being racist.

When she began to ask how and why suburban white housewives were inherently racist simply because they were white, she was accused of being a white supremacist.

When she began to question whether parents should be allowing their children to have gender reassignment surgeries at age three, she was accused of being transphobic.

When she began to ask involuntary celibates (incels) why they thought that women didn’t find them attractive, she was accused of being sexist. Against men.

While the book is occasionally humorous—it’s almost impossible to not laugh at the absurdity of some of the ridiculously “woke” people she encounters—-it is mostly just sad and disturbing.

Sad that those of us who do strive to be anti-racist and LGBTQ+ allies and fight for social justice issues are often lumped together with these people by conservatives who view everyone with progressive views as nut jobs.

Disturbing that these Uber-woke people honestly can’t see that their attempts at helping people that they supposedly care so much about are, in the end, actually hurting them.