Calling someone 'woke' is as bad as RACISM claims award winning actor Cathy Tyson

​Cathy Tyson

Cathy Tyson claims that being called 'woke' is 'as bad' as a racial slur as she explains the word is 'deeply offensive'

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Georgina Cutler

By Georgina Cutler


Published: 27/09/2023

- 22:59

The actress claims 'woke' is used to 'undermine' progressive ideas

Actress Cathy Tyson has claimed that being called "woke" is “as bad” as a racial slur as she explains the word is "deeply offensive".

The “Mona Lisa" actress said the "race card is thrown in your face if you make a criticism of anything".


“I imagine some of the readership use the word ‘woke.’ For me, it’s as bad a term as an offensive racial slur,” Tyson told The Telegraph.

“The terms ‘woke’ and ‘race card’ are deeply offensive to me," she continued.

The 1989’s Mona Lisa actress said the 'race card is thrown in your face if you make a criticism of anything'

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She added that "race card", “is thrown in your face if you make a criticism of anything,” while "woke" is used to “undermine” progressive ideas.

“Even the term ‘white privilege’ is very, very divisive," Tyson said.

"I’m not about sides.

“How do we all get on together? It’s complex, there’s a lot of people of all colours who are suffering financially, who are hungry, at the moment."

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The actress, who was raised in Liverpool by her mother of Irish decent while her father worked in his native Trinidad, explained that while growing up there were tensions between police and the black community.

She said: “My mother was called, you know, a ‘N-lover,’ by certain people.

“There were problems between Catholics and Protestants, then you had black and white, there was joyriding at night, there were juvenile delinquents.

“I was aware of why [the riots] flared up, but there was a level of drama all the time, I was used to it.”

The actress, who was raised in Liverpool by her mother of Irish decent while her father worked in his native Trinidad, explained that while growing up there were tensions between police and the black community

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Speaking about the film industry, Tyson said that casting should be “colour-blind, size-blind, age-blind.”

She added: Society is always ahead of the industry — there are women of my age doing all sorts of amazing things."

It follows comments by Casey DeSantis, the wife of Florida Gov Ron DeSantis who said Florida is the place “where woke goes to die.”

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