Briefing | Back to sleep

America is becoming less “woke”

Our statistical analysis finds that woke opinions and practices are on the decline

An illustration showing a crushed golden megaphone surrounded by various "woke" protest symbols, including #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and Trans Rights.
Illustration: Juanjo Gasull
|WASHINGTON, DC

Regina Jackson and Saira Rao achieved a degree of fame at the height of the backlash in 2020 after police killed George Floyd, an unarmed black American accused of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 note. For a hefty fee, rich white women would hire the pair to help them confront unconscious biases at dinner parties that featured such ice-breakers as, “Raise your hand if you’re a racist.” Guests may often have broken down in tears when told that their claims to be colour-blind were simply another brick in the edifice of white supremacy, but there was lots of interest. The two women were featured in many news reports and made a film about their dinners, “Deconstructing Karen”, in which a guilt-stricken participant confesses, “I am a liberal white woman. We are absolutely the most dangerous women.”

Explore more

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Back to sleep”

From the September 21st 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Briefing

An illustration of Donald Trump depicted as a Roman emperor in the Oval Office ncluding a horse as a senator and feature him serving hamburgers and Coca-Cola.

The right in Congress and the courts will reshape Donald Trump’s agenda

As dominant as the new president is, there is still life in Washington’s institutions

 Asylum-seeking migrants walk along the US-Mexico border fence near the Jacumba Hot Spring, California

How far will Donald Trump go to get rid of illegal immigrants?

It is his signature policy, but the obstacles are daunting


A photo collage about plastic surgery boon, featuring public figures like Joe Jonas and Kim Kardashian

Young customers in developing countries propel a boom in plastic surgery

Falling costs and converging beauty standards spur new habits


The Assad regime’s fall voids many of the Middle East’s old certainties

What if Syria abandoned its hostility to the West and stopped menacing Israel?

Syria has exchanged a vile dictator for an uncertain future

It is not clear how stable or how benign the new regime will be

Gambling is growing like gangbusters in America

Technology and legal changes are spurring a betting bonanza