Dear Editor:

Donald Trump’s policies are racist. Almost every time Trump opens his mouth he’s talking about being anti “woke.” The word “woke” is a black-dialect variation of the word “woken” or “aware.” The modern American origin of the use of this word to mean “aware” comes from a song by Lead Belly, the black folk singer from Louisiana, in 1938. In an explanation, he tells his listeners that woke means to be aware traveling through Alabama after the the Scottsboro boys case there in which nine teenage black boys were convicted by an all-white jury on trumped-up charges of the rape of two white woman aboard a freight train. Lead Belly is saying be aware, be careful when you’re traveling through Alabama.This is where the word “woke” comes from.

Especially in our times, after the murder of George Floyd, the word has became widely used by black activists and their supporters, taking its original meaning from Lead Belly, to be aware of racial prejudice and discrimination, and the dangers they entail.  

For our president to say he is anti “woke” and to call for the discontinuation of funding and programs that are “woke” is nothing more than a  racist dog-whistle aimed at demeaning, disempowering, and discrediting any person, institution or program that is working for racial justice in this country.

Bruce MacDonald 

Boothbay