Gregory Fortuin and his children with former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. (Photo: supplied)

Having survived the brutality of apartheid, Gregory Fortuin, a former Race Relations Commissioner, refuses to let the language of justice be twisted into a slur. Woke, he argues, is not about political correctness — it is about moral clarity, a refusal to ignore injustice, and a belief that standing up for others is never optional.

I have lived through a system so cruel it tried to write my “system-imposed inferiority” into law.

Apartheid was not just political oppression — it was an all-encompassing assault on dignity, designed to make you believe the lie of white supremacy and your own supposed unworthiness.

The greatest tragedy wasn’t that they told us we were inferior, but that so many were indoctrinated into believing it.

That’s why I refuse to treat the language of justice as disposable. “Woke” is not a fad, nor a political insult. It is a moral state of being: the refusal to close your eyes to injustice, no matter how inconvenient the truth may be.

The word “woke” has deep roots in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). It began as simply “awake” but evolved into a call for vigilance against racial and social injustice. In 1938, African American musician Lead Belly urged listeners to “stay woke” to the threat of racial violence. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, and others carried this torch in their struggles for freedom.

In our own time, it re-emerged as a rallying cry in the Black Lives Matter movement — a demand for consciousness in the face of systemic oppression.

In its truest sense, being woke means being alive to the realities of racism, inequality, and modern slavery. It means recognising that injustice did not end with the abolition of slavery or the fall of apartheid. It persists — in our institutions, our economies, and in everyday life.

Yet today, some trivialise this awareness. They attach their personal irritations — over gender identity, inclusion, or social change — and mockingly label them woke.

This is not just intellectually dishonest. It is morally dangerous. Using woke as a slur dismisses not only a word but the centuries of struggle, pain, and progress it represents. Whether intended or not, it aligns with the same forces that upheld slavery, apartheid, and white supremacy.

If you have a grievance, make your case. Don’t hijack a word rooted in justice. Find your own.

Let’s be clear: Woke is not about political correctness. It is about moral clarity. It’s about waking up to the suffering of others and refusing to look away. It’s about standing for justice, even when it is uncomfortable.

So, the next time you hear woke used as an insult, ask yourself: Are they rejecting justice itself? Are they nostalgic for a time when inequality was the norm? What injustices are they willing to sleep through? Do they wish to keep the knee on George Floyd’s neck as his life ebbs away and he calls out for his mother?

To me, being woke is not weakness. It is survival, resistance, a beacon of hope and the stubborn belief that justice is worth the fight.

Gregory Fortuin is a former NZ Race Relations Commissioner and South African Honorary Consul to New Zealand, appointed by Nelson Mandela. A survivor of apartheid, he is a long-time advocate for justice, human dignity, and social cohesion in Aotearoa and beyond.

E-Tangata, 2025