Free Republic

William Shakespeare's birthplace will be de-colonised over fears that portraying his success as the 'greatest' playwright 'benefits the ideology of white European supremacy'. Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust owns buildings in the playwright's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. It wants to 'create a more inclusive museum experience' and announced it will move away from Western perspectives after concerns were raised that Shakespeare's ideas were used to advance 'white supremacy' ideas. The trust also said that some of its items could contain language or depictions that are racist, sexist, or homophobic. It comes amid an ongoing backlash against the writer. Some productions of his works...

A Church of England diocese has introduced a new prayer guide stating that Christianity was historically propagated through “racist European ideologies.” The "anti-racist toolkit," developed by the Diocese of Norwich's Racial Justice Action Group, and which advises clergy to move away from Eurocentric prayers, includes suggestions for addressing racial justice in church services, and is designed to align local parishes with the Church of England’s efforts to combat racism. The guidance says parishes need to prepare for demographic shifts, particularly in rural East Anglia, where Norfolk remains about 94% white, according to The Telegraph. Despite the region’s prevailing homogeneity, the...

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”...

Former Bachelorette star Josh Seiter has called for the franchise to cast a transgender lead on its next season. Seiter, 37, who came out as a transgender woman in May, told DailyMail.com it was important for the dating franchise to reflect the diversity of modern America. 'America is changing. It's not just a bunch of middle-aged cis white people anymore, and the LGBTQIA community makes up a large portion of our country now. Yet we've seen zero representation for trans women and men on the franchise,' Seiter explained. The Chicago native said she was pleased to see the franchise become...

A university library in the UK has placed trigger warnings for "white supremacy" on classic children's books such as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. York St John University warned readers that historical children's stories written in the 19th and early 20th centuries under their Rees-Williams collection are likely to contain "offensive" examples of "white supremacy" and "colonialist narratives." An online disclaimer for the collection, entitled "Content warning and position statement" says: “Within the 150 years of children’s writing which is represented in the collection, there is a widespread occurrence of colonialist narratives which centre white supremacy, and racist and...

Melina Abdullah unloaded criticism of the pop singer and her boyfriend online 'Virtually everything is racist,' the BLM Los Angeles co-founder wrote online She doubled down, calling Swifties 'full-fledged violent white-delusionists' after receiving a heated voice message from an unknown man The co-founder of a Black Lives Matter chapter has slammed Taylor Swift fans as 'racists' and referred to Kansas City's Super Bowl victory as a 'right-wing, white-supremacist conspiracy' in a series of posts on social media. Melina Abdullah, 51, a professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State University Los Angeles, took to X, formerly Twitter, to unload her opinions...

A judiciary panel at the University of Georgia has concluded that a teaching assistant and graduate student who came under scrutiny last January for making racially charged statements did not violate the student code of conduct. The graduate student had been accused of purposefully omitting a trespassing arrest from his UGA admissions application, among other allegations. University of Georgia (UGA) TA and graduate student, Irami Osei-Frimpong, was cleared by the panel on Tuesday after facing expulsion over allegations that he had failed to list his previous attendance the University of Chicago, as well as that he had purposefully omitted a...