Chaya Raichik, also known as “Libs of TikTok” online, is attempting to bring her show on tour, but it seems to be encountering difficulties.
Yesterday, Raichik delivered a speech at the Indiana Memorial Union at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, alongside Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
During her speech, she criticized the presence of “pornographic” books in schools and expressed her dislike for everything associated with being “woke.”
She complained that the concept of wokeness is being forced upon people in various environments, including schools, college campuses, the workforce, and even when they go shopping.
Some students began laughing.
She unexpectedly asked if someone had a question or found something amusing after the audience laughed at her exaggerated concerns.
Someone in the back asked, “How do you define wokeness?”
She attempted to answer by saying, “Wokeness is the destruction of normality and… And… Um… Uh…” which caused more students to laugh.
She added, “…of our lives,” believing she had completed her sentence.
Banks then took over and stated that wokeness represents “anti-Americanism.”
Banks expressed his frustration with the idea of being taught that America is not worth fighting for, emphasizing that it is a great country and the greatest in the world's history.
According to The Bloomingtonian, two protestors who were chanting were taken away in handcuffs, but it's unclear if they will face charges. Authorities have not confirmed whether charges will be filed.The paper reported that about two dozen people, mostly men, were in the front rows for Raichik’s speech, while those who disagreed with her were towards the back. From a video posted to YouTube, the men in the front appear to be much older than the average IU student, while the people towards the back appear to be much younger.
Attendees inside the IMU continued to hold signs, including one that read, “Chaya is a stupid name. It means spinach tree. I’m calling you spinach tree from now on.”
Despite conservatives emphasizing the concept of “wokeness” for several years, Raichik is just one of many who have struggled to define the word. Conservative writer Bethany Mandel faced online mockery last year when she couldn’t explain what the word meant during an interview about her book on “woke indoctrination” targeting children.
“Woke is something that’s very hard to define, and we’ve spent an entire chapter defining it,” she said. “It is sort of the understanding that we need to totally reimagine and redo society in order to create hierarchies of oppression. Sorry I, it’s hard to explain in a 15-second sound bite.”
As she lost the attention of the audience, she asked, “Is something funny?”
