BEING CALLED 'WOKE' IS A COMPLIMENT

Wayne Wright’s pejorative use of “woke” in a recent Guardian cartoon (Nov. 25) reveals a willful promotion of bias and a woeful lack of understanding. The term means “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),” according to the Merriam-webster 2017 dictionary. The Oxford dictionary adopted it the same year, defining it as "originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice."

The term has been adopted in recent years by right-wing politicians worldwide to inflame and garner knee-jerk support from those who feel that progressive ideas are somehow bad for society. Wright’s narrow vision in this cartoon is painfully obvious here. To suggest that the Green Party (and anyone else who is progressive) is “woke” is actually a compliment. To imply that “woke” is connected to certain healthy dietary choices is ignorant and self-defeating. A “woke Island” is a place to which we should all aspire.

Ron Patterson, Emyvale, P.E.I.