Dear Editor,
To my suggestion that words and terms in your newspaper be defined for greater understanding (in this example the word “WOKE”), you have published a response. In his Apr. 5th letter (Words as Weapons), author El Sellers said his use of the word “WOKE” “appeared to have troubled” me here in Buffalo. Yes, it is troubling when words are used incorrectly.
In his letter, Sellers makes the bizarre statement, “Webster’s dictionary is a place to go for spelling information, not for knowledge”. This is entirely incorrect. Successful communication is dependent on having SHARED UNDERSTANDING of the meaning of words. As the late rightwing radio personality Rush Limbaugh was fond of saying, “Words MEAN things.” The great value of Webster’s (or any) Dictionary is NOT merely the “spelling” of words (as Sellers suggests), but most importantly word definition and meaning (i.e. knowledge).
Sellers says, “I hope here to clarify my diction.” The second Webster’s definition of “diction” (the first applying to the spoken word) is, “choice of words, especially with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.” Great! This is exactly what is called for with the use of the term “woke.”
Explaining why HIS use of the word “WOKE” is the opposite of that in dictionaries, Sellers says, “Words quite often have different meanings depending on who the speaker/writer is: e.g. one man’s patriot can be another man’s traitor”. I suppose this is somewhat true, considering that during WWII, the French Resistance were considered patriots by the French, but traitors by the Nazis. While the definitions of “patriot” and “traitor” (in whatever language) remain constant; the context is provided by knowing WHO is talking.
With this, Sellers gets to his “diction” of the term “WOKE”.
Sellers says: “WOKEISM…defines a political/social movement opposed to the traditional American values…”
To accept this definition, by Sellers’ explanation, one must consider WHO the speaker/writer IS. If the speaker/writer is someone OPPOSED to racial and social justice, then this definition might very well suffice.
As I said in my previous letter, now the challenge is to get his definition accepted as the “real” and “popular” definition of “WOKE”… that opposition to racial and social justice is the “norm” of “American values,” and that “awareness of injustice” is UNpatriotic… and then correct all the dictionaries in the land.
Pardon me if I don’t wish Mr. Sellers good luck with that endeavor.
Jeff Harrison
Buffalo, Texas
