Thread by @SamRochadotcom

In reply to @BishopBarron’s Angelus interview, shared on his Facebook page, repeating his well-known thoughts about contemporary social activism, I have posted the reply to follow. angelusnews.com/arts-culture/b…

@BishopBarron: You have said this same thing, in different ways and to different degrees, about this idiosyncratic usage of the term "woke," but you have yet to name anyone who is doing it.

You refer to philosophers by name as root ideologies but remain indirect in your disputes with contemporary voices you are critiquing, not to mention dismissive of these complex philosophical schools of thought (much more so than, for instance, Benedict XVI)...

... which often count faithful Catholic in their number (like Jean-Luc Marion, a student of Derrida). I am quite familiar with the philosophers you name and with present theories like CRT and more and cannot see how to connect the dots to the claims you are making.

(I am also familiar with the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Christian Gospel and those who seek social justice within these traditions, conversant across secular sources, such as the work of Gustavo Gutierrez, to name an example.)

I wish you would be more direct and provide even one example or case of a prominent figure who is doing what you claim to be happening based on the intellectual sources you claim to be inspiring it.

Short of that, your repeated assertions are impossible to verify or understand and increasingly sound like lifted sound bytes from Jordan Peterson (who is also not Catholic nor informed by CST), adapted into a Catholic rhetoric.

One more thing: I am not sure that you are aware that the expression “woke” is a colloquialism in the Black community referring to being raised in “socially conscious” or “Afrocentric” families. It is a common word to hear in that semantic context.

Yes, it has recently become more common outside of it, but not to the degree nor in the versions that you and others use it as a new expression of PC, SJW, or alike.

If you choose to turn it into a pejorative buzzword, you are potentially doing that at the expense of a meaningful term within the Black community, which is hardly a way to address concerns about racial justice in this country.

I would also add that using the expression "reverse racism" is monumentally misinformed and unaware of the way it has been historically deployed as a dogwhistle.

If you want to discuss these issues with a Roman Catholic who is also a distinguished philosopher of race, I would recommend contacting Jorge Gracia.

Gracia's "familial-historical view" account of race, begins with Du Bois' sociological account and adds analytical depth and replies to objections including examples from affirmative action and other thought experiments. It is a robust set of ideas by a faithful Roman Catholic.