The GOP’s War on Woke

Democracy’s Make or Break Moment

On Friday, the GOP’s incessant war against woke seems to have reached new lows, as the always bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act barely managed to squeak through the House on a purely party-line vote, thanks in no small part to a series of anti-abortion, anti-trans, and anti-diversity amendments tacked on by its most bigoted members. This, of course, is only the latest in a series of Republican attacks against women, racial and religious minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community. From the relentless rantings of Ron DeSantis to the recent rulings of the United States Supreme Court, it appears as though wokeism is the proverbial hill upon which social conservatism has chosen to die. And in order for the republic to survive, die it must.

When coming out of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what type of government had been created. His much celebrated reply — “a republic… if you can keep it” — has historically served as a reminder that representative governments endure only so long as their citizens remain free, well-informed, and mutually committed to the democratic principles that make participatory politics possible. These principles include popular sovereignty, equal justice under the law, the protection of human rights, civil liberties for all citizens (including those in the…