Is Wokeness Dead?

In 2019, journalist Matthew Yglesias coined the term "the Great Awokening" to describe the cultural revolution that had been transforming society. For the past few years, everything from sports to politics, education, medicine, and religion had been dominated by discussions of race, gender, and sexuality as conceptualized by the oppressor/oppressed ideological framework of critical theory. At the time, it hardly seemed possible that the social-justice fervor gripping the U.S. could escalate. However, the death of George Floyd in June 2020 turned the volume of the Great Awokening up to 11. Trump's presidential defeat in November 2020, coupled with the Democrats' enthusiastic embrace of identity politics, seemed to signal that wokeness was here to stay.

A Vibe Shift or a False Hope?

Fast-forward to 2025, and many people believe there has been a "vibe shift." In June 2023, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, citing evidence of racial discrimination against Asians in college admissions. After Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, Americans watched in horror and disbelief as organizations like BLM-Chicago tweeted out their apparent support for the terrorists. Numerous Ivy League officials supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives were implicated in plagiarism scandals and were forced to resign. Transgender ideology suffered various setbacks as doctors and health organizations began to reassess the wisdom of gender reassignment surgery for minors. All in all, Trump's 2024 reelection was seen as a repudiation of the Biden administration’s wokeness. Once in office, President Trump immediately issued numerous executive orders to halt or reverse the institutional capture of the government and education by woke ideology. For those of us who have resolutely opposed critical theory for the last decade, these were largely welcome developments. 

However, we shouldn't grow complacent; reports of wokeness’s death have been greatly exaggerated. 

When it comes to wokeness, there is a significant generational divide. For example, many conservatives noted hopefully that support for same-sex marriage dipped by 2% in 2024, from 71% to 69%. However, that statistic is heavily age-dependent. While only 60% of seniors approved of same-sex marriage, an overwhelming 89% of young people did. Likewise, a 2023 poll asked respondents: "There is an ideology that white people are oppressors and nonwhite people and people of certain groups have been oppressed and as a result should be favored today at universities and for employment. Do you support or oppose this ideology?" Seventy-nine percent of 18-24-year-olds said that they supported this ideology, compared to only 19% of seniors. Based on such data, conservative pundits crowing that "the kids are all based" should curb their enthusiasm. Demographics alone will propel wokeness forward.

While DEI programs are now legally prohibited in federally funded institutions, those who promoted such initiatives are mostly still in power. They may simply flout Trump's edicts unless they are caught. But more likely, they will  pay lip service to new legal requirements while quietly continuing programs that implement the same critical theory–infused materials they used in the past. Moreover, we should remember that what can be imposed by fiat can be overturned by fiat. For all we know, we are only three years away from President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez making DEI programs mandatory at all government agencies and public universities.

True Believers and Irreversible Choices

Finally, adherents of woke ideology fall on a spectrum. Some, having had a genuine change of heart, are now quietly walking back the mistakes they made. Others continue to simply follow the crowd. And then there are true believers, who remain wholeheartedly committed to the pseudo-religion of critical theory. Many of these have made major life decisions that will be difficult or even impossible to reverse. 

In an interview with philosopher Peter Boghossian, journalist Helen Joyce offers a chilling example of this third group: parents who transed their kids, affirming their gender identity and helping them obtain cross-gender hormones and even surgery. Joyce compares these parents to zanryū nipponhei, Japanese soldiers who—for various reasons—refused to believe that Japan had surrendered to the Allies and continued to fight for years, even decades, after World War II ended. It would be psychologically devastating for these parents to admit that queer theory is fundamentally based on a lie and that they encouraged their own children to mutilate themselves. Consequently, they will likely take their beliefs to their graves, regardless of what happens in the outside world. Likewise, there will be no quick return from wokeness for people who cut off friends and family, left churches, or even abandoned Christianity entirely.

A Christian Call to Counter Wokeness

In the face of these realities, two responses are needed.

First, we should focus on changing hearts and minds, not just policies. Now is not the time to declare victory and sit back! For a (possibly brief) moment, people are reconsidering the excesses of the Great Awokening. We need to push them to go further so that they reexamine not just the excesses but the fundamental presuppositions of their worldview. Few of us have the power to shape organizational or institutional policy. But all of us have the power to influence our family, our friends, our co-workers, and our churches. Help them connect the dots between their unquestioned beliefs about the oppressor-oppressed binary and the logical outworkings of these beliefs in phenomena like Drag Queen Story Hour or Queers for Palestine.

Second, we should offer people a positive vision of gender, ethnicity, and sexuality that is rooted in the Bible. Nature abhors a vacuum. Without a Christian understanding of who God is and who we are as humans, secular narratives will rush in to fill the void. No one needs to choose between wokeness on the one hand and racism, sexism, and hatred on the other. The Bible offers us a true picture of reality, one that unites around the cross of Christ for God's glory and our good.