I would love for the overly vocal minority in Glendale who throw the word “woke” around like a slur to actually define what it means, rather than hiding their own fears and prejudices behind buzz terms and empty politico-business speak.
I get that any group that has seen their own self-perceived bootstrap, unique self-made ascendancy as a product of their own strength and character, and not the result of having the game unfairly rigged in their favor for generations, are full of dread at the notion of any call for parity and fair treatment potentially upsetting to their vague hold on things.
I also understand that those full of fear tend to lean hard into the bosom of what they see to be strong men who will make all the bad different people go away; it’s a tale as old as time.
Perhaps if more people confronted their own bigotry and asked themselves some harder questions, then they wouldn’t need to fall into the age-old traps of tribalism and “them and us,” pretending that any governor or corporation in a far-off state cares one jot about them over profits and self-gain. Maybe then they’ll look closer to their neighbors and those around them, seeing that the human cost in this small-minded political game is far bigger than anything.
Jamie Gambell
Glendale
First published in the June 10 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
