Some Observations on John McWhorter’s “Woke Racism”

Clare Xanthos, PhD
4 min readNov 20, 2022

“How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America”

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For over two decades, Columbia University professor, John McWhorter, has produced anti-racial justice commentary, which has been eagerly lapped up by his racist fanbase. McWhorter, a self-described liberal (who is Black) is someone who implies that Black people should be grateful that slavery and Jim Crow were abolished; that modern racism is insignificant; and that anti-racism is a threat to American society.

In his 2021 book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, McWhorter unleashes a tirade against what he perceives as the evils of anti-racism which he labels as “woke racism.” When these kinds of sentiments are expressed by a Black intellectual, they are, of course, given more credibility, which is why McWhorter is especially popular among racist commentators. Indeed, at the time of writing this article, McWhorter is following and followed by a number of well-known racists on Twitter, including notorious racial realist Charles Murray, one of the authors of the infamous book, The Bell Curve.

Source: People followed by John McWhorter (@JohnHMcWhorter)

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Clare Xanthos, PhD

RESEARCHER. AUTHOR. WRITER. Interests: racial equity, social justice, cultural identity. Co-Editor: "Social Determinants of Health among African-American Men."