Anti-Racist versus Colorblind 2064: Woke Wars assumed published copyright and written by Winthrop Rosenberg.
The story opens with the assumed protagonist introducing himself as Edmund Hsu in the year 2064. He explains that he always has felt like a human being. He has existed in a body and existed in a broader world but that his humanity has never been his body or station in life nor any other aspect that could define him. Thus, to rephrase, he might be characterized as an abstract wandering around observing and taking some part in this world that has become a strange place dominated by a society that now is racist in the extreme. He compares 1964 which basically promised freedom and opportunity to all if they worked hard and didn’t break laws with the present year of 2064 a land where social and economic opportunities are rationed out to members of different racial categories in accord with their race’s overall percentage of the nation’s population and where freedom, particularly in terms of speech, association and movement are significantly curtailed. The restrictions on speech are to minimize anyone hearing criticism of the system that those in power deem “racist”, and the restrictions on association and movement are to ensure that different institutions and geographic districts in nations borders are properly designated, unless one is in one of the sporadic designated racial “safe spaces” that have been established, which allow a race exclusivity in a particular area or organization. The new regime designates its population to consist of 7 categories for a population of 450 million with a dominant 51% Hispanics. The manner in which divisions are made is described and the resultant resentment against these “Wokes” who had “viciously perpetrated a despicable, patronizing, murderous, dehumanizing, and disgusting racial cast system” finally bubbled to overflowing and the “Third Civil War” begins. The attendant activity is provided in detail along with those of the protagonist and the total over viewed in the final Chapter 7 Epilogue dated 22 December, 2098.
Discussion: The author has presented a satire on the repetitive activity of governments that keep evolving into dystopia and/or complete self-destruction. The basic plot can be described perhaps as a ‘personalization of history with projection for the future’. For history buffs it provides recall of various activities of any number of governments going back to the Chinese Dynasties. Assignment of a specific rating level is difficult for this reviewer. The plot is especially pertinent to the present situation within this country of overabundance of the assignment of the term ‘racist’ or ‘racism’. If the author’s acceptable description of the protagonist’s mental attitude is loosely applied, the characters are adequate. The pace, although somewhat slowed at times by extended discourse, is acceptable. The overall message of each side attempting to justify the brutality and/or atrocities they undertake in the name of justice and fairness is a position that demands respectful thought.
4* Reasons as described in discussion.