Arizona State U. scholars condemn ‘white ownership’ of Shakespeare

The College Fix ^ | 09/26/2024 | Gabrielle Temaat

[DFG]

Two faculty members condemned “white ownership” of Shakespeare and the state’s manipulation of black history during an “Appropriation Series” at Arizona State University last week.

The scholars are pushing for changes in curriculum and leadership that reflect more “diverse” voices. During the panel, they spoke to eleven ASU students in the audience and other faculty members via Zoom.

English Professor Ruben Espinosa argued that Shakespeare’s legacy has been manipulated for purposes of exclusion and viewed through a lens of “white superiority.”

He said that for the Jan. 6 “insurrectionists” at the U.S. capitol, Shakespeare represents a symbol of “white exceptionalism” and “racial hierarchy.”

The organizers sent a letter to the Folger Shakespeare Library, the world’s largest Shakespeare collection located one block from the U.S. Capitol, and not to other institutions like the Library of Congress to notify them of the protest beforehand, he said.

Espinosa said this act reflects the insurrectionists’ perception of Shakespeare as an emblem of “white superiority,” which is why they deemed it important to protect the library during the protest.

“Shakespeare sits atop of that racial hierarchy. He is the epitome of what they consider white exceptionalism…and this is why he’s valuable,” the English professor said.

Espinosa also argued that the Shakespeare Library has a historical legacy tied to anti-immigrant and white exceptionalist sentiments, reflected in its founding leadership and early rhetoric.

He said that “the first director of the library, Joseph Quincy Adams” saw the institution as “a preservation of the language of the American people at a time when immigrants are coming in like locusts to steal our culture, to steal our language.”

“This is the way he imagined immigration,” Espinosa said.

[AndyJackson]

That’s a whole lot better than wherefore art thou. Seriously, who ever talked that way except some racist pounce?

[AndyJackson]

Ponce not pounce.