According to studies, numerous health challenges present with fatigue: Feeling depressed, decreased immunity, increased appetite, daytime sleepiness, increased blood pressure, and irritability.
But a new kind of fatigue has recently appeared: the weariness of physical exhaustion due to the pandemic of wokeness infecting every facet of culture. The result of cultural wokeness is the increasingly destructive impact of the fatigue it causes. Once wokeness fatigue hits, it relegates its victim to the silent sideline. Most patients express being “tired of wokeness.” However, those desiring to overcome the harmful effects of this disease must use every precaution necessary to fight its influence.
Natural Immunity
The 24-hour news cycle chronicles our constant exposure to the pandemic of wokeness; waves of infection are experienced in every area of life. From Washington to Wall Street, no one is immune to its tiring effects.
When combating wokeness fatigue, admitting that you’re “tired of wokeness” is an essential first step. In addition, restoring Scriptural sufficiency along with a biblical view of anthropology will be critical. We are indeed one human race created in the image of God (Gen 1:27) made up of many ethnicities (Acts 17:26).
One of the challenges that can confuse you as you’re restoring scriptural sufficiency is that the woke will affirm the same text of Scripture. While declaring agreement with these texts in principle, they will abandon the application of the same texts, inserting instead an experiential hermeneutic. This, combined with the analytical tools of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, can prove confusing for some. The combination of Scripture with additional tools is a tactic that deforms the gospel message.
The writing of Black Liberation theologian James Cone defines this kind of gospel deformity. In his book, Black Theology and Black Power, Cone writes,
If the gospel is a gospel of liberation for the oppressed, then Jesus is where the oppressed are and continues his work of liberation there…If he [Jesus] is not in the ghetto, if he is not where men are living at the brink of existence, but is, rather, in the easy life of the suburbs, then the gospel is a lie . . . Is this not why God became man in Jesus Christ so that man might become what he is?. . As long as man is a slave to another power, he is not free to serve God with mature responsibility. He is not free to become what he is—human.1James H. Cone, Black Theology & Black Power (Orbis Books, 1997), 38–39.
In 2016, Pastor and Georgia State Senator Ralphael Warnock demonstrated the same experiential hermeneutic. In Warnock’s now-famous sermon, “How Towers Tumble,” from Genesis 11, Warnock said, “Somebody lied and told them that uniformity, that sameness, homogeneity, was the key to their survival. Somebody lied and told them that diversity was a threat to their identity. . . . God made all human beings in God’s image.” Warnock adds, “It was humans who decided that some human beings are better than other human beings.”
After enjoying a six-year NFL career that earned Kaepernick $43 million dollars, he now sees the NFL as a racist system of power, bent on recreating slavery? Only the woke are buying what he’s selling.
While allegorical approaches to the Scripture are abundant in wokeism, none of what Warnock said can be identified in the pages of Scripture. This failed approach has weakened the spiritual immune system of far too many, particularly in the black community, resulting in wokeness fatigue. So, while natural immunity is always the first line of defense in combating this disease, ensuring sound biblical theology is a must. It’s to that end that I offer these suggestions along with their necessary precautions.
Boost Immunity
One of the things that we can do to fight the malaise that comes from wokeness fatigue is to boost the immune system. Boosting immunity can be done in a myriad of ways. One of the most common is seeking examples that contradict the woke narrative; you can identify key people who have experienced success. This can provide the needed jolt to the immune system, fending off the weakening impact of the disease.
However, it’s important to remember that the virulence of victimology can have a blinding impact on one’s ability to see success. The woke have become masterful at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, even in the most extreme cases.
An example of this appeared recently as former NFL Quarterback turned social justice activist Colin Kaepernick revealed his latest Netflix series, Colin in Black and White. In the series, Kaepernick, adopted by white parents, exposed what he believed to be their inherent racism. He did this while explaining that the NFL draft is not the opportunity most believe it to be. Instead of the chance of a lifetime, forever changing one’s family status from poverty to great wealth, Kaepernick explained that the NFL draft is analogous to slavery. Kaepernick effectively demonstrates what it looks like to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After enjoying a six-year NFL career that earned Kaepernick $43 million dollars, he now sees the NFL as a racist system of power, bent on recreating slavery? Only the woke are buying what he’s selling.
Take the Jab
Some have determined that to overcome woke fatigue, they will take the jab and get vaccinated. Doing this requires study in social justice, critical race theory, and intersectionality. The analysis of these subjects should allow one to be knowledgeable regarding the signs and symptoms of the disease and increase the ability to avoid infection traps.
Former Secretary of State and Stanford Professor Condoleezza Rice found out firsthand that even being educated on the subject of critical social justice can prove to be a challenge. During an interview on The View, Rice explained the need to see Blacks as permanent victims and Whites as oppressors are not helpful. Rice, who has a solid understanding of Critical Race Theory and has experienced the Jim Crow South first hand, explained how her life was an example of overcoming the odds. Rice said,
I come out of an academic institution, and this (Critical Race Theory) is something that academics debate, what is the role of race. Let me clear. I grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama. I could not go to a movie theater or a restaurant with my parents. I went to segregated schools until we moved to Denver. My parents never thought I was going to grow up in a world without prejudice. But they also told me, ‘That’s Somebody else’s problem, not yours. You’re going to overcome it. And you are going to be anything you want to be.’ That’s the message that I think we ought to be sending to kids.
Rice continued,
One of the worries that I have about the way that we’re talking about race is that it either seems so big that somehow white people have to feel guilty for everything that happened in the past. I don’t think that is very productive . . . or Black people have to feel disempowered by race. I would like for Black kids to be completely empowered. I want Black kids to know that they are beautiful in their Blackness, and in order to do that, I don’t have to make White kids feel bad for being White.
Condeleeza Rice dared to speak her mind. What she said seemed logical to most. However, the woke mob strongly rebuked her. One such critic, journalist Touré Neblett took to writing on his blog. He objected to Secretary Rice’s comments, explaining that Condeleeza Rice demonstrated that she was a “soldier for white supremacy.” Neblett went on to say, “White children and adults should absolutely feel bad about the past atrocities committed by white Americans. . . . They should feel guilty. They should cringe at what their ancestors did. They should also understand that modern white power is directly related to those atrocities.”
So, just when you think you’ve inoculated yourself from the tiredness of wokeness, it can strike back with a vengeance at a moment’s notice. The best solution is to recognize this disease will be with us for some time, and that we’ll have to maintain a biblical worldview and consistently speak the truth in love, regardless of the outcome.
References
| 1 | James H. Cone, Black Theology & Black Power (Orbis Books, 1997), 38–39. |
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