I am sometimes amused by some people who are against being "woke" when many of the arguments they use would have caused them to be labeled as "woke" 50 years ago and their belief that "being woke" is new or recent.
The current climate of sensitivity to others' race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. is just the natural progression of humanism, an ideology that has been around for almost 400 years and which is, with a few exceptions, the most dominant ideology on the planet.
Until about 400 years ago everybody had their station and found meaning by staying in their station. Peasants, free or serfs, were to serve their masters, usually a noble. That noble served a higher ranked noble and so on up to a senior noble, such as a King or Emperor and in Europe the Pope. Only they were given the right to find individual meaning in their life and to define their relationship with the universe. That is what is meant by the Divine Right of Kings. It is much deeper than just having the God given right to rule.
Then about 400 years ago some western philosophers started presenting the idea that we are individuals and that we all have the right to find our own meaning in life and the right to define our own relationship with the universe. These thinkers proliferated, their successors took inspiration from them to define a new ideology we now call Humanism and it spread beyond humanist thinkers until it permeated the political and economic thought everywhere.
Then around about 250 years ago a bunch of rich, influential men in 13 remote, backwater British colonies decided to base their new independent government on the principles of humanism. The statement that "All men are created equal." featured prominently in the document that they used to declare their independence.
Thus Humanism moved from the minds of philosophers into the real world. Of course, it started off as baby steps. When these men stated all men were created equal they were being literal. Only men had those rights, and only white men besides. They did not believe their slaves had those rights and they certainly did not believe women had them. As well, although they believed all men were equal they still did not trust them, which is why the US has an electoral college for electing the highest office in the land. They might have believed the masses had equal rights but they also believed that only people of their class could be trusted with electing the leader of the new country.
The funny thing is, that when the first thinkers first presented the humanist arguments they were roundly criticized by those who wanted to maintain the status quo. When the US was founded it was greeted with suspicion by virtually all of the other countries on the planet. They feared what it represented and they wanted it to fail. As well, in the beginning those who condemned humanism always did so by stating that humanists were going against God's will.
From those baby steps in the US, humanism has spread around the world and it dominates the politics of almost every country on the planet. North Korea is probably one exception but otherwise it is only one of very few.
As well, for every step of progress of humanism there has been resistance. The slaves could not be freed. Men of colour could not vote. Women could not vote. People of different religions were a threat. Gays could not have the same rights as straights. All of these arguments have taken place and continue to take place around the world. Some places lag but humanism's march continues without pause.
Interestingly those who would slow or stop this progress always use humanistic arguments. They claim their rights are being stepped on. The latest example is the "Parents Rights" argument that has popped up recently in response to the idea that educators may not inform parents if their students come out to them but ask that they not tell their parents. Yes, sometimes they may invoke God but their arguments are completely humanistic.
One thing the last 250 years has demonstrated is you cannot stop the progress of humanism. The bottle in which we would stuff that genie is long gone. So those folks who are bitching about the current "wokeness" of our society better get used to it. You are not going to be able to change it.
