Indeed… so who changed the meaning? It’s a political device.
Staying woke seems wise today, as it did for Leadbelly 100 years ago.
I don't think you can point to any one person or group, as it morphed over time. Which seems to be a lot of what HODL was getting at in his original post here.
Is macaroni with tomato sauce an Italian dish? The noodles come from China. The domesticated wheat from the Levant. The tomatoes from the Americas.
The clinging to words or ideas as belonging to one group of people is to attempt to hold back the tide of change -- of life.
As for the matter of injustices existing, sure. But I'd argue that even before it got turned into this big conglomerate of injustices applying to everyone from black people to furry trans otherkin, the meaning had already begun shifting more subtly, as it went from "being aware enough about the dangers to keep your wits about you while moving about the world" to "being on a crusade to blame everyone and the system around you for your plight in life."
The awareness, as you allude to, is wise. The victim mentality, even if it is triggered by real events, is maladaptive.
Is macaroni with tomato sauce an Italian dish? The noodles come from China. The domesticated wheat from the Levant. The tomatoes from the Americas.
The clinging to words or ideas as belonging to one group of people is to attempt to hold back the tide of change -- of life.
As for the matter of injustices existing, sure. But I'd argue that even before it got turned into this big conglomerate of injustices applying to everyone from black people to furry trans otherkin, the meaning had already begun shifting more subtly, as it went from "being aware enough about the dangers to keep your wits about you while moving about the world" to "being on a crusade to blame everyone and the system around you for your plight in life."
The awareness, as you allude to, is wise. The victim mentality, even if it is triggered by real events, is maladaptive.