What is woke? For a term that has blitzkrieged its way into our political, social and school board meeting lexicon over the last decade or so, its meaning is strangely unclear. If you ask a historian, they will tell you that the term originally comes from 20th century African-American vernacular, meaning to stay alert to racial injustice. If you ask the median voter, they will probably shrug their shoulders and say “Hillary Clinton.” If you ask a conservative, they will say something along the lines of “non-binary critical race theory in the pronoun kitty litter boxes,” in which case you will have to awkwardly cough and pray the Uber ride ends soon.
The real answer is that woke has been juiced so hard by the right-wing propaganda machine to score points against liberal “soy boys” that it is essentially meaningless. First meant as a symbol of Black solidarity, woke is now a dying husk of a term that occasionally whispers something about progressive politics. Even Republicans, who originally hijacked the term, do not seem to want to call things woke anymore. However, as we all know, one man’s trash is another man’s political platform. Democrats now have the opportunity to pick up the word, give it a little edgy makeover and come away with “dark woke,” an ideology that asks Democrats to be a bit more sassy, straightforward and morally righteous. Arising from an internet meme, dark wokeism offers Democrats a youth-powered way out of the hole they find themselves in.
The best thing about dark wokeism is that it solves the Democratic Party’s identity crisis. Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, instead of building a strong, unified front to earn the voters’ confidence, Democrats are, of course, infighting. Are the Democratic Socialists of America the future of the party? Are Democrats losing the youth vote? And the most incessant, obnoxious of them all — did Democrats go too woke? This hand-wringing is not only profoundly unhelpful because it leads to division, but also because it inherently gives in to conservative mythologies — like the one that there was some kind of far-left hysteria, or “woke mind virus,” ruining the country during periods of Democratic rule. Powerful grumps within the party, such as former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, have become so terrified of being perceived as woke, though, that they have gotten stuck playing political defense, admitting wrongdoing for pushing cultural issues too far — something that they never actually did. Dark woke puts Democrats back on offense by embracing the label of woke and recalibrating it to win back voters.
One way dark wokeism wins back voters is through effective communication. Right now, most Democratic politicians are terrible at talking to voters, especially young voters. Take a peek at your average Democratic politician’s social media pages, and you will find pleading paragraphs that sound less like voter outreach and more like me emailing a professor for an extension at 11:52 p.m. Dark woke recognizes what Trump’s success has made devastatingly clear — voters want their leaders to sound like them. They do not want stilted, focus-grouped politician-speak that does not seek to make a point but just to offend the least amount of people possible. Democrats should never over-intellectualize or obfuscate a clear, righteous liberal message of equality and justice. I think Andy Beshear, Democratic governor of Kentucky and dark woke soldier, said it best — “You don’t change stigma by changing words. You change it by changing hearts.” Dark woke aims to change hearts.
Once in power, Democrats need to prove themselves effective — something they have not been able to do in the past. Dark woke is fundamentally a results-based movement, demanding a ruthless, unapologetic style of progressive politics. This change could be particularly effective in winning back young people, who are feeling increasingly pessimistic about the future of the country they will inherit — as a young person, I can confirm. One promising example of this is New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has taken the country by storm via his highly tangible governing and communication style. The man just gets stuff done, and young people are picking up on it. Also, one certainly does not have to be a democratic socialist to see results. Even here in Virginia, Gov. Abigail Spanberger, whose vibe screams moderate suburban wine mom, has taken firm and results-based stands on many contentious issues, such as redistricting, gun reform and raising the minimum wage. Young people have taken note of her policy, helping to deliver her to victory and keeping her approval ratings high. Despite being from opposite ends of the Democratic Party’s ideological window, both Mamdani and Spanberger embody the compelling, upstanding governing style that dark woke lends itself to.
If all this sounds good to you, there is actually a way you can help out. Become dark woke! As we all know, the Democratic Party, aptly represented by a donkey, is the most stubborn organization on earth that will not change unless it is dragged kicking and screaming by its voters. So let us, starting these midterms, make it abundantly clear — both by outspoken support of dark wokeism and direct support of dark woke candidates in the ballot box — that we will not tolerate the same old feckless, broken establishment politics. Together, we can save three things in one — wokeism, Democrats and the nation.
Beckett Anderson is a senior associate opinion editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Cavalier Daily. Columns represent the views of the authors alone.
Beckett Anderson is a senior associate editor on the opinion desk. He is a second-year College student, majoring in English and history. Beckett is from Beacon, N.Y. and he enjoys writing about whatever interests him. You can usually find him walking around Grounds or reading in the McGregor Room.
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