The more precise term to refer to what people mean by woke is Critical Social Justice. The article linked below, by the author of Cynical Theories (recommended), is a succinct explanation.
People like to argue over the definition of the word woke, and insist that their definition is the correct one, but that's a red herring. Words are pointers to things, and the real argument here is over the thing the word points to. Usage matters. Arguing about the definition of the word is a way of avoiding talking about the phenomenon.
People who criticize "woke" aren't criticizing kindness, empathy, human rights and equal justice. Pretending they *are* doing that is deceptive and disingenuous—the contrary of just or kind. This article obfuscates the issue, which is a disservice to everyone—including, notably, the marginalized it purports to champion. Unfortunately, and ironically, one of the accusations levelled against the woke is that they misrepresent things, and this is a fine example of that. It's very misleading.
To have a sane conversation, you would need to address what sober critics of Wokeism are referring to when they use the word.
To select one very obvious thing, the statement that being anti-racist means "being against racism" is incorrect. Now, if we take the normal definitions of those words, it makes sense. But in the Woke lexicon, words have been redefined. *Equity* means equality of outcome (e.g. based on race—q.v. Ibram X. Kendi). That is the idea that any given minority must be represented in every situation proportionally to their representation in society. Anti-racism means working to achieve equity, e.g. by implementing racial quotas in university admissions, hiring, and so on. That means racially discriminating in favour of non-white people to achieve the goal of equitable racial representation.
You may think that's a good idea. I don't. But the point is that active racial discrimination to achieve equity is *not* the same as "being against racism." Some would argue that racial discrimination *is* racism. (And of course, "racism" itself has been redefined, as "prejudice + power." It's not just a personal bigotry. In the Woke world, statements like "all white people are racist" and "black people can't be racist" can be true because of that redefinition.)
Anyway, it's ironic that the article complains about people being misled while doing its best to mislead.
People who are genuinely interested may like Woke Racism by John McWhorter. While there are serious critics on the right, you also find moderates and people on the left, like myself, who are alarmed at the direction this is headed.
https://counterweightsupport.com/2021/02/17/what-do-we-mean-by-critical-social-justice/
