Earlier this week, California high school English teacher Dana Dusbiber made waves when she posted a piece decrying the requirement to teach the works of Shakespeare in her classroom. She doesn’t believe the “long-dead, British guy” is effective in reaching her minority students and thinks it’s wrong to “teach a canon that some white people decided upon so long ago.”
She would prefer to “teach the oral tradition out of Africa” and “translations of early writings or oral storytelling from Latin America or Southeast Asia.” Ultimately, Dusbiber believes “it is far past the time for us to dispense with our Eurocentric presentation of the literary world.”
I could not agree more. In fact, I want to take this style of teaching beyond the English classroom.
In philosophy classes, anyone who brings up Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle should receive a stern talking to. “Those guys are Greek,” I would admonish. “They don’t count!”
When we are training our med students, I want no mention of names like Louis Pasteur or Jonas Salk. In aeronautics, we need to erase the bravery and brains of explorers like Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong. In psychology, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, and Abraham Maslow should be rendered obsolete. In economics, I want to get rid of Keynes and Hayek. In physics, I am tired of white Europeans like Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr getting so much credit—no more! General relativity and quantum theory are so Eurocentric.
Interested in the history of computer science? No more Alan Turing and no more Bill Gates.
In music classrooms, Mozart and Beethoven, Chopin and Bach would disappear if I am in charge. We would also ignore modern musicians like John Lennon and Bob Dylan and their silly songs. Too much white influence.
I’m also sick of artists like Van Gogh and Picasso, Monet and da Vinci filling up our museums. Our students need different models to follow besides Western Europeans with light-colored skin.
And we shouldn’t limit this plan to classrooms; even our coaches need to get into the act. Basketball coaches should no longer discuss Larry Bird or John Stockton. Baseball coaches should not bring up Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, or Sandy Koufax. Football coaches should not study the talents of Johnny Unitas, the leadership of Roger Staubach, or the wisdom of Vince Lombardi. Young people can’t learn anything from these pasty has-beens.
I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this sooner. This is so cathartic! These despicable white males that have accomplished incredible things, advanced culture and science for generations to follow, and shaped the world in innumerable ways make me sick. I can’t wait for our school systems to get on board with my idea and offer “no white” education across the country. I would love to work at that kind of school. But, then again, I’m white. So maybe my perspective doesn’t matter anyway.
She would prefer to “teach the oral tradition out of Africa” and “translations of early writings or oral storytelling from Latin America or Southeast Asia.” Ultimately, Dusbiber believes “it is far past the time for us to dispense with our Eurocentric presentation of the literary world.”
I could not agree more. In fact, I want to take this style of teaching beyond the English classroom.
In philosophy classes, anyone who brings up Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle should receive a stern talking to. “Those guys are Greek,” I would admonish. “They don’t count!”
When we are training our med students, I want no mention of names like Louis Pasteur or Jonas Salk. In aeronautics, we need to erase the bravery and brains of explorers like Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong. In psychology, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, and Abraham Maslow should be rendered obsolete. In economics, I want to get rid of Keynes and Hayek. In physics, I am tired of white Europeans like Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr getting so much credit—no more! General relativity and quantum theory are so Eurocentric.
Interested in the history of computer science? No more Alan Turing and no more Bill Gates.
In music classrooms, Mozart and Beethoven, Chopin and Bach would disappear if I am in charge. We would also ignore modern musicians like John Lennon and Bob Dylan and their silly songs. Too much white influence.
I’m also sick of artists like Van Gogh and Picasso, Monet and da Vinci filling up our museums. Our students need different models to follow besides Western Europeans with light-colored skin.
And we shouldn’t limit this plan to classrooms; even our coaches need to get into the act. Basketball coaches should no longer discuss Larry Bird or John Stockton. Baseball coaches should not bring up Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, or Sandy Koufax. Football coaches should not study the talents of Johnny Unitas, the leadership of Roger Staubach, or the wisdom of Vince Lombardi. Young people can’t learn anything from these pasty has-beens.
I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this sooner. This is so cathartic! These despicable white males that have accomplished incredible things, advanced culture and science for generations to follow, and shaped the world in innumerable ways make me sick. I can’t wait for our school systems to get on board with my idea and offer “no white” education across the country. I would love to work at that kind of school. But, then again, I’m white. So maybe my perspective doesn’t matter anyway.