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Understanding wokeism’s role in modern U.S. elections is no longer an abstract exercise.

It is now a necessary part of how citizens see their choices at the ballot box. Dennis Joiner’s book The Turn offers a sweeping look at the past seventy-five years of U.S. culture and politics, showing how changes in values, media, and power have created today’s debates over what is called “woke.” His analysis goes beyond slogans to expose how elite narratives and public fears shape voting behavior.

In this article we focus on understanding wokeism in American politics and media through the lens of Joiner’s writing. He describes a society that has shifted “away from an open society and individual rights toward a dystopia” where propaganda and moral relativism prevail. This long view helps readers make sense of the present moment, where ideas about justice and identity are contested in campaigns and on news feeds.

From Civil Rights to Today’s Culture Wars

Dennis Joinertraces how the fight for racial equality reshaped the country’s legal and moral landscape. He notes that while victories such as school desegregation were landmark steps, they also sparked intense backlash. His description of a society living “in a satanic haze of white hypocrisy” captures the deep contradictions of mid-century America.

These contradictions never disappeared; they evolved into new forms of conflict. Understanding wokeism’s role in today’s elections means recognizing that debates about race, gender, and identity are rooted in this longer history, not invented overnight.

The author also shows how mass media shaped the public’s sense of reality. In the 1950s, television “broadcast blacks as lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual” to a largely white audience. This propaganda normalized stereotypes and made it easier for politicians to maintain systems of exclusion while claiming fairness. Understanding wokeism’s role here involves seeing how old tools of manipulation continue to operate in modern news cycles and social media.

Fear and Ignorance in Electoral Politics

Joiner argues that the central dynamic behind American conflicts is “two interconnected aspects (fear and ignorance) developing within an evolving social system.” These forces drive both support for and backlash against policies now called “woke.” Voters respond to narratives about safety, morality, and identity, sometimes without checking who benefits from their fear.

Understanding wokeism’s role requires looking past partisan labels to see how these emotions are used to mobilize or suppress participation.

He also shows that fear has long been a tool in U.S. politics. Cold War nuclear drills, the War on Terror, and now debates over gender in schools all share a common pattern: elites claim to protect democracy while reducing transparency and choice. Wokeism, in Joiner’s framing, is another arena where moral language can mask power moves.

Media Narratives and Election Strategy

Joiner calls American journalists “jackals” who “live by this perverse axiom: logic is an enemy and truth is a menace.” He argues that media consolidation leaves little room for independent voices. This affects elections because the same outlets that frame candidates also frame the issues. Coverage of “woke” debates—whether about school curricula, gender policies, or historical statues—becomes a way to signal which side of the culture war a voter should join.

Understanding wokeism’s role here means recognizing that narratives are often crafted for ratings or control, not for clarity.

According to research from Pew Research Center — a nonpartisan, high–authority source — Americans’ views on race, gender, and identity now play a major role in how they choose candidates and evaluate policies. This data underscores Joiner’s point that voters are not simply reacting to policy details but to deep cultural frames.

Identity, Family, and the Ballot Box

In Dennis Joiner’s view, the decline of the nuclear family is central to America’s moral and political crisis. “As the family goes, so goes the society,” he writes. He ties changing household patterns—blended families, same-sex couples, delayed marriage—to shifts in voting behavior and party platforms. These changes affect how campaigns talk about inclusion in politics and how voters respond to promises about stability or progress.

When voters confront ballot measures on issues such as school policies or gender rights, their choices are not only about policy but about identity. Joiner’s analysis helps readers see why such issues have electoral power. They speak to deeper anxieties about community, belonging, and the future. Understanding wokeism’s role means tracing these anxieties back to decades of social transformation rather than treating them as new or isolated.

From Protest to Policy

The Turn also tracks how movements that start as protests can become institutionalized or commodified. Joiner describes how “blaxploitation” turned Black struggle into media tropes. He suggests a similar process happens with newer causes. Once an idea becomes a brand, it can be used to sell products or win elections without addressing the underlying issue. This insight applies to how woke ideology affects elections today. Slogans about justice or freedom can be genuine calls for reform or mere marketing tools.

For voters, understanding wokeism’s role in campaigns means asking whether a policy proposal is substantive or symbolic. Does it change structures of power, or does it simply signal virtue? Joiner’s skepticism about the Civil Rights Movement taking “credit for what would have happened anyway” is a warning: not every claim of progress is as deep as it sounds.

Polarization and the Limits of Reform

Joiner notes that “for decades America has been in partisan gridlock” and that courts decide key issues “using ideological and attitudinal factors and biases.” This gridlock creates a cycle of action and reaction. One side passes a policy framed as inclusive; the other side mobilizes against it. The result is political polarization that leaves most voters frustrated and cynical.

In this environment, understanding wokeism’s role also means recognizing its limits. Inclusion in politics is necessary for a healthy democracy, but when inclusion is framed as a zero-sum contest it can harden divisions. Joiner’s analysis helps explain why campaigns focus on wedge issues and identity rather than common goals.

The Elite Playbook

Later sections of The Turn describe what Joiner calls the “Greed Party”—his term for the corporate and political class that benefits regardless of which party wins. He writes that Americans now face “Tweedledum vs. Tweedledee—two indistinguishable candidates.” The culture war around wokeism can thus serve as a distraction from economic or structural issues.

Voters argue about pronouns while elites negotiate tax breaks. Understanding wokeism’s role in this light means seeing it as part of a broader strategy of diversion.

Lessons for Voters

Joiner closes with a call for personal and collective integrity. “America’s continuance now depends entirely upon the edification of each American individual, to be dead to sin, to be dead to wickedness, to be dead to greed, and to be dead to false idols.” This is not a partisan appeal but a civic one. It suggests that understanding wokeism’s role requires self-examination as well as media literacy.

Voters need to ask: What are my values? Who benefits from my outrage? What vision of society am I supporting with my ballot?

He also reminds readers that social wounds cannot heal if they are constantly reopened. “Let the dead bury the dead” is his phrase for moving beyond grievances. Applied to elections, this means refusing to let old resentments or stereotypes decide new policies. It also means rejecting fatalism.

Change is possible, but only if voters act from knowledge rather than manipulation.

Putting It All Together

The Turn is not a neutral chronicle. It is a sharp critique of elites, media, and moral decline. Yet its value for today’s voter lies in its historical sweep. It shows that the themes now labeled “woke” have deep roots. It shows how propaganda can frame both liberation movements and backlash. And it shows why fear and ignorance remain powerful tools in electoral politics.

If you want to move beyond headlines and slogans, Joiner’s book provides a framework. It does not tell you how to vote. It shows you how to see. That is the first step to reclaiming civic agency.

Call to Action

For readers who find these ideas challenging and want a fuller picture of how decades of cultural shifts shape today’s elections, Dennis Joiner’s The Turn offers a detailed map. It traces the rise of identity politics, media manipulation, and elite power from the 1950s to the 2024 election.

By reading it, you can deepen your own understanding wokeism’s role in American life and make more informed choices at the ballot box. Grab a copy of The Turn to explore the complete story behind the sound bites and see how history illuminates the present.