GTA worlds have always been about reflecting what goes on in the real world, either played straight or as a parody. Something like this is not off-brand for Rockstar North at all, and certainly isn't them going woke.
In the remaster trilogy they removed a southern flag from some inbred redneck because they said it's no longer culturally sensitive. I seriously doubt they would do something like this with the next game.
Oh I know that they were the ones who actually did the work. But Rockstar had to sign off on this stuff in some way. They definitely had a say in what was removed from the game.
They in no way had to sign off anything about that game. The GTA franchise is controlled by Take Two Interactive, not Rockstar North.
It was very evident that Rockstar North had no input into these games, or they simply weren't listened to, considering the game launched with obvious errors that clashed with the intended designs for the original games.
Edit: also, do you really think that Rockstar North of all people, the developers of the original Manhunt game and the same people that put a graphic torture minigame in the GTA5 mission By the Book, would somehow draw the line at the Confederate flag?
I don't think woke is a bad thing, I'm just saying this isn't even a change of course for Rockstar North. They have always done this kind of social commentary in GTA.