How ‘woke’ is Joe Biden?

After the prime minister awkwardly dodged the question on Wednesday, Sean O’Grady explores the wokeness of the new president

President Biden’s status is all the more assured because he succeeds possibly the least woke leader of any democracy in the planet (Getty)

So how “woke” is “Sleepy Joe”? Boris Johnson spluttered and bluffed his way, as only the prime minister can, to a non-answer when Sky News’s Sam Coates bowled him that particular googly. It was a smart question because it highlighted, subtly but effectively, the differences in the social and political outlooks of the two men. Mr Johnson duly acknowledged the difference, with some finesse, by burbling about history and heritage, but we know where he’s coming from, and it ain’t Wokeland. If anything Mr Johnson and his top team spend much of their time “gaslighting” woke warriors, to use another trendy expression.

In truth, of course Mr Biden is woke. The earliest moments of his presidency were utterly woke affairs, deep in the substance and symbolism of woke values. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is the first woman and person of colour to hold that office, with the promise of another glass ceiling to smash in 2024. His cabinet appointments are the most diverse in history, and in stark contrast to those of Donald Trump, though he might have been thought of as an equal opportunities bully.  

The Biden inaugural ceremonials were a celebration of multiculturalism and inclusivity, with Spanish spoken and sign language expressed. The theme was unity. The fight is against white supremacy, racism and sexism.  

“The buck stops here,” President Harry S Truman said of the Oval Office, and President Biden made it is his business to make his White House the wokest yet, possibly even surpassing that of President Obama. Official White House correspondence now permits people their pronoun of choice – a key index of woke behaviour. The president has threatened bullies with instant dismissal, which is fine in principle if something of a contradiction in terms without sound internal procedures.  

More substantively still, President Biden will at least respect the Black Lives Matter movement, as he did as a candidate, and he will stop the creeping return of Jim Crow laws and voter suppression in some states. Disenfranchisement of black American voters was one of the most dreaded consequences of a second Trump term. Instead, President Biden may be expected to entrench civil rights won so painfully in the 1860s and the 1960s. He may have to deal with challenges to woke values on women’s rights from the Supreme Court as well as Trumpites and Republicans.  

Nor is Joe Biden such a new recruit to the woke army. He long since put up a sign outside his home declaring that “Doctor and Senator Biden live here”, acknowledging Jill’s achievements in her own right.  

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “woke” means “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”. Aside from Jacinda Arden in New Zealand, Mr Biden is the most high-profile woke leader in the world. His status is all the more assured because he succeeds possibly the least woke leader of any democracy in the planet, given that there was strong competition from Brazil, Hungary and Russia (if indeed they qualify as democracies).  

Woke culture has its origins as far back as the mid-19th century. In essence, though, like political correctness before it, being woke is a timeless concept. Day to day, it isn’t much more than having good manners, some grace and being respectful of the wishes and feelings of others, including what they wish to be called. The wonder really is why anyone regards such things as some threat to civilisation, rather than the very definition of civilised values.