I would like to rebut a recent letter by Deanne Danforth (“Defending virtues of being ‘woke’,” Jan. 31).

The criticism of this “woke” religion doesn’t all come from conservatives. In fact, liberals such as Columbia University professor John McWhorter, who wrote a book called “Woke Racism,” views this movement as a religion with its dogma and sanctimonious virtue signaling.

Deanne speaks of the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, especially after the shooting of Michael Brown. That shooting was ruled justifiable by President Obama’s Justice Department.

Black lives do matter. Thousands of lives, even children, are killed on our city streets every year by other Blacks, but BLM doesn’t voice outrage at those injustices.

BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Shalomyah Bowers, another foundation leader, have each used the charity’s funds as a personal piggybank for lavish expenses. Somali-born activist and writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali says the group “is the enemy of black prosperity and education.”

Slavery was an inhumane period of America’s past. Frederick Douglass grew up in slavery, and understood the dark brutality of it. Yet, after initially criticizing Abraham Lincoln’s policies, he supported more of the agenda after meeting with Lincoln.

Douglass learned that being forever bitter wasn’t going to solve matters. He wrote and lectured on the importance of education and self-reliance — not victimhood.

Powerful elites want to break Americans into tribes while they profit from it. For our nation to survive, we must reject that and work together.

Kevin Landry, Lewiston