It wasn't, ideologically speaking. People don't remember the '90s very accurately. "Institutional capture," the "long march", etc., were all accomplished by then. The pozz load was in. What changed is demographics.
For example, teaching the children of nations that are no longer white to hate white people for colonialism, that their moral duty is to end the historical crime of whiteness, turns those children against not only historic colonial powers but the whole European diaspora—including Israel, because treating that case differently relies on distinctions too fine for brown minds. So, FREE PALESTINE. A rare slogan in the '90s. Now it's a default attitude. What changed? Not the message.
If the definition of "wokeness" is narrowed to what distinguishes late 20th century leftism from 2020s leftism, it's a racial difference. White flight made it dumber and more dangerous, like Detroit.