Breaking News Template ‘Anti-woke is anti-Black’: California Gov. Gavin Newsom calls out attempts to drag America back to pre-voting rights

Explore Our Galleries

A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali.
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC

African Peoples Before Captivity

Shackles from Slave Ship Henrietta Marie

Kidnapped: The Middle Passage

Image of the first black members of Congress

Reconstruction: A Brief Glimpse of Freedom

The Lynching of Laura Nelson_May_1911 200x200

One Hundred Years of Jim Crow

I Am Somebody! The Struggle for Justice

NOW: Free At Last?

Memorial to the Victims of Lynching

The Freedom-Lovers’ Roll Call Wall

Frozen custard in Milwaukee's Bronzeville

Special Exhibits

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Click Here

Ways to Support ABHM?

Click Here

October 27, 2025

“They’re putting America in reverse, to a 1960s world,” the governor told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

Brandon Caldwell, The Grio

Office of the Governor of California, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been vocal about the Trump Administration and various policies and decisions since President Donald Trump assumed office for a second term in January. In a new interview with the “All The Smoke” podcast, Newsom isn’t mincing words about his thoughts regarding the conservative-majority Supreme Court and how it appears current government ideology isn’t moving forward but backward.

“They’re putting America in reverse, to a 1960s world,” Newsom told Matt Bafacts. It’s an unf–king-believable moment.”

“All this anti-woke stuff is anti-Black. Period. Full stop.”

He continued, “All the CRT, ESG, DEI stuff? That’s all this is. It’s this great purge, and it’s happening in real time, and I’m sitting here like, ‘Luckily, I’m Governor.’ But we’re not doing enough. We’re not calling this out, we’re not drawing a line here. It’s not about Democrats or Republicans, it’s about who we are. Right and g–damn wrong. Daylight and darkness.”

Read more on why Gavin Newsome says anti-woke means anti-black.

See more of our galleries and explore.

Check out more of our Breaking News.

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.