Dead white men

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Dead white males or Dead White European Males (DWEM) is a derisive term referring to a tradition of thought and pedagogy, like the Great Books focus of educational essentialism and Educational perennialism, which is believed to stress the importance and contributions of individual European males from the past, while largely ignoring other forces (economic or social, for example) or other groups of people (for example, individuals of non-European descent, and women).

Some of those most often included in this definition include Plato, Dante, William Shakespeare and Isaac Newton.

Other typical "dead white males" include:

• Ancient Greek philosophers
• European explorers, conquistadors, and colonial administrators
• European mathematicians, philosophers, scientists, artists, and political figures
• European and American authors (especially those in the traditional Western canon)
• European "Classical" music composers

Specifically in the US:

• Founding Fathers of the United States
• US Civil War Generals
• US Military Heroes

History and usage

The phrase "dead white males" (or "dead white men", "dead white guys" etc.) is a rhetorical device used to deride the emphasis on high culture in Western civilization in schools (especially those in the United States), as the majority of figures previously considered significant in Western civilization were white males who are usually dead. Critics of the traditional curriculum argued that it enshrined a particular world view and that it valued older European history, for example, over more recent American achievements. They also often implied that it was subconsciously racist and sexist. A form of history viewed in a similar way is the "Great man theory" of history.

As a result of increased DWEM focus, high school curricula in the United States in recent years have tended to ignore the contributions of DWEMs almost entirely, while focusing instead on the contributions of previously little-known individuals who were not DWEMs. For example, a typical US high-school history curriculum now often ignores entirely the contributions, decisions, and actions of such individuals as Robert E. Lee, and other DWM who were Generals, while focusing instead almost entirely, for the historical discussion on Wars, on the contributions of individuals such as Crispus Attucks, who were never mentioned in textbooks until the late 1980s.

The term emerged in the late 1980s as an outgrowth of the Political Correctness vogue. It began as an off-hand reference used to protest a perceived bias in favor of such figures in the curriculum of the educational system of the US.

Critics of the term

Despite being itself supportive of a controversial racial classification of individuals as "White" vs "Non-White", the term DWEM was subsequently adopted by defenders of the traditional curriculum. Some supporters saw the particular "dead white European males" in question as being obviously more worthy of study than any rival figures. Defenders of traditional curricula are often supporters of the accepted canon of English and European-language literature. They often characterise proposed curriculum change as being largely motivated by political activism. They argue that to dismiss any thinker or writer as a DWEM, and solely for that reason, cannot be a valid comment on the actual content.

This is because DWEM is employed as an ad hominem argument. This approach has joined the repertoire of calling criticism 'political correctness', or defending a historical figure or event as being subject to academic attacks by "liberal intellectuals". It strengthens those points, since it speaks to the fallacious nature of ad hominem, rather than itself relying on fallacies.

In response, it has been pointed out that the term DWEM is not meant as a criticism of Plato, Aristotle, or other such "dead white" intellectuals. Instead, they suggest that it is a criticism of the academics that have held them in absolute esteem, while downplaying the possible worth of contemporary intellectuals (such as Jack Kerouac) or non-white intellectuals (such as Lao Tze). Users of the term also suggest that their critics are bigots who have an automatically indignant reaction to the words "dead white males," as well as an automatic connection to eurocentric traditions.

It has also been pointed out that some authors who are widely accepted into the Western canon, such as the astronomer/mathematician Ptolemy and the theologian/philosopher Augustine of Hippo were born or lived in Africa, and may not have been "white" as that term is generally understood today.

Popular culture

The term has gained widespread enough currency that it can appear in mass-market media. For example, in the film 10 Things I Hate about You (1999), an African-American high-school English teacher performs a rap version of a Shakespearean sonnet. Afterwards, he remarks that despite the fact that Shakespeare is merely a "dead white guy", he reassures the class that the playwright "knows his shit" and is still worth the attention. Harold Bloom has made the same argument, in a more academic style; see his book The Anxiety of Influence [1].

Australian playwright David Williamson also satirised this approach to education in his play Dead White Males. In the production, the ghost of Shakespeare is shot by a radical post-structuralist lecturer.

In the Simpsons episode, "Lisa the Iconoclast", Lisa's teacher Ms. Hoover calls her report exposing local hero Jebediah Springfield as a pirate, "nothing but dead white male-bashing from a PC thug."

See also

• Identity politics
• Political correctness
• Postmodernism
• WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)
• Missing white woman syndrome

External links

• Columbus As A Dead White European Male: The Ideological Underpinnings of the Controversy Over 1492, an essay from The World and I, a publication of The Washington Times, December, 1991
• Kudos to the grand old DWEM, an essay from the National Post, November 20, 1999

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