The 2024 election is in the books, and we will collectively spend years dissecting, analyzing, interpreting (and misinterpreting) the results. 

One take that’s already gaining steam is as predictable as it is inaccurate: the increased support of Donald Trump is a repudiation of “woke culture.” 

From Democratic pundits like James Carville placing the blame of his party’s loss on “wokeism,” to West Virginia Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey announcing that “DEI” and “woke” are not West Virginia values, it’s clear there are no party lines when it comes to bad takes on human rights.  

And let’s be clear because that’s exactly what “woke” actually is. The next time you see someone decrying “woke” simply replace the word with “human rights” and you’ll see exactly what they’re really saying. 

Whether it’s Sen. Joe McCarthy’s red-baiting rants on “anti-American activities,” Alice Moore’s book-banning crusade against “human secularism,” or George Bush Sr. railing against “political correctness,” mislabeling human rights as something bad or scary is nothing new. We’ve been here before and I fear we will be here again. 

Continue reading at West Virginia Watch.