No doubt, the anti-woke sentiment is about protecting the status quo. But as to who "misappropriated" the word, I have my doubts. You cite Lead Belly's use of the word. In snootier circles, his "stay woke" becomes "be on the qui vive," a warning of imminent unseen threat. Today, though, thanks to CRT and that awful 1619 Project, the term means "Hate Whitey." You may say it doesn't mean that, but it conveys that sentiment as surely as the anti-woke message sounds like racism to you.

Watching your back in Alabama and being aware of systemic racism in America are not wholly unrelated, but "stay woke" and "be woke" are subtly different usages. Lead Belly's woke did not threaten Whites up north. Today's woke does. That semantic creep may have been unavoidable, but it is real, and, I believe, it accounts for "anti-woke" being a thing.