Richard Hanania: ‘Wokeness’ is law in US, ‘not simply a cultural phenomenon’

Richard Hanania, president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, said Tuesday that the idea of “wokeness” is more than a cultural phenomenon — it has in fact been ingrained into the country’s civil rights laws for decades. 

In an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Hanania outlined a recent piece he wrote in which he argued that “wokeness” consists of the “idea that disparities are caused by discrimination,” the argument that “you need to restrict speech in order to protect the victimized group in question” and that a “full-time bureaucracy” is needed to solve discrimination issues. 

Hanania argued that while conservatives may treat “going woke” as a relatively new “cultural phenomenon,” the ideas of fighting discrimination and promoting increased rights for minority groups have been in place since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent interpretations of the legislation. 

“Yes, there’s a culture component, but the policy has been in the background for 50, 60 years and doesn’t really allow different kinds of institutions to develop,” he said. “The way I put it is conservative views on race and gender in the workplace are somewhat illegal, and if you’re worried about wokeness the first thing you want to do is legalize different views or different ways to have organizations.” 

Watch part of Hanania’s interview above.