UC Berkeley’s Golden Bears are embracing the label of being “woke” as a rallying cry for the football season, in response to mockery from some of their Southeast rivals. The team’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference has brought them to new territories, far from their liberal home base in Berkeley, California. Fans of rival schools have taken to social media to tease the Bears for their perceived radical left leanings, leading to a digital culture war through college football memes.
One particular meme, “You just lost to the woke agenda,” went viral after Cal’s upset win at Auburn, with the creator, grad student Miles Goodman, explaining that it was a response to conservative mockery of the school. Cal fans have been quick to embrace the “woke” label and have flooded social media with memes supporting various hot-button issues as a response to negative stereotypes.
The fans have used memes to poke fun at how their rivals perceive “woke” culture, including images of rainbow flags and jokes about climate change, gender identity, and DEI policies. The hope is that this football-fueled meme culture war will help fans better understand each other and dispel stereotypes by showing that they are just normal people representing a diverse range of beliefs.
Cal will face the Florida State Seminoles in an upcoming game, with fans on both sides engaging in the meme war. The intention is for these exaggerated and absurdist memes to bridge the political gap and lead to more positive interactions between fans of different schools.
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