The tipping point into mass wokeness

I’m fascinated by critical-mass social opinion changes. You know, the ones where a huge swathe of the public begins to think one way or another about a societal topic. Particularly fascinating to me are those swings which follow long periods of apathy, ignorance, or an opposing opinion.

An example in my lifetime is the seemingly sudden swing to pro-LGBT viewpoints by many people in the late 2000s/early 2010s. I can remember clearly being bullied, getting called “f*g,” and hearing negative things be referred to as “gay” well into the 2000s. This was invariably followed by some of those very insulters posting pro-LGBT slogans and voting for marriage equality less than a decade later. You might know where this is going.

Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles

In the weeks since the murder of George Floyd, I’ve observed many people posting didactically about #blacklivesmatter, systemic racism, Black American history and the long, unending battle for social and racial justice. Companies (including my employer) are telling employees to take Juneteenth off. Others have been quick to post pro-Black messages across their brands. The Aunt Jemima brand is being retired after 130 years..

A vast number of these people and entities, while often committing positive words behind things like “equality,” have been historically quiet about systemic racism. Until now. Is it just that the current situation, with its combustible mix of Trump, COVID-19, and social media, has made it impossible to ignore? For all but active racists to turn a blind eye to? Is there a social validation snowball effect which enables [people-who-notice-systemic-racism-but-don’t-speak-up-about-it] to indeed speak up about it without having to deal with too much status-quo-preserver pushback? The answer is likely “yes.”

Perhaps it’s all very logically explainabie — this phenomenon feels like something Malcolm Gladwell would have written about (Tipping Point, anyone?). I’m interested in learning more.