I don’t see myself as balanced between those extremes. “Wokeness” is fundamentally harmful to the goal of ending racism. It’s not the baby in the bath water. It’s the leak in the bath.

A world without racism will by definition not use skin colour as a way of categorising people. Wokeness puts segregationist era focus on skin colour to shame. Ending racism requires open conversation where people are able to make mistakes and learn without fear for their jobs or their safety. Wokeness actively opposes those conversations. Ending racism requires that we take a serious and sober look at the world, using data instead of relying on emotion and media outrage. Wokeness weaponises emotion to make many problems that affect black people impossible to talk about honestly.

The more I think about this, the more I think it’s an article in itself, but no, I don’t think the answer lies in balancing between these extremes, I think it lies in thinking clearly. Wokeness is only interested in feeling.