Taxpayer funded wokeness: Democrats set aside millions for ‘woke’ projects

According to Fox News, who refer to the Democrats' earmarks as an attempt to "federally fund wokeism", the projects "are designed to advance social justice goals ranging from equality in education to access to preventative healthcare to diversity in public arts projects."

Most of the proposed projects aim to deliver physical spaces and materials that help push 'woke' ideas. New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, for example, has earmarked $742,000 for a program that will create a space for "inclusion and healthy discussions around difficult issues such as racism, gender discrimination and cultural bias."

New Jersey Representative Donald Payne has asked for over $1 million to set up a "Center for Child and Human Development", whose goal would be to integrate education, human services, and social work in order to teach students how to "challenge unequal structures and systems around race, age and social class."

Also tagged at over $1 million is Pennsylvania Representative Dwight Evans' proposed "health equity clinics".

Institutes of higher education, often bastions of wokeness, have also been targeted. Nebraska Representative Chrissy Houlahan asked for $166,000 for an "equity and inclusion program" at Lincoln University, and Ohio Representative Joyce Beatty is seeking nearly half a million dollars to create a institute for "the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship on race, racial inequality, and social policy."

Also notable is California Representative Karen Bass' $1 million "innovative 1.3-mile public/private streetscape improvement to celebrate Black culture".

A full list of the proposed woke projects can be found on Fox News' website.

The moves have drawn criticism from many Republicans. As Fox News reports, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey called Democrats earmarking "the currency by which the leadership buys votes for unrelated legislation", adding that "there is no systematic review or vetting process" on such actions.