Dead white males or DWEM (an acronym standing for "Dead White European Male"), is a pejorative term used most commonly to refer to a tradition of thought and pedagogy, like the Great Books focus of educational essentialism, which stresses the importance of individual European males from the past, at the expense of other forces (economic or social, for example) or groups of people (for example, non-Europeans and women).

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

Other typical "dead white males" include:

• Ancient Greek philosophers
• European explorers, conquistadors, and colonial administrators
• European philosophers, scientists, artists, and political figures
• European and American authors (especially those in the traditional Western canon)
• Founding Fathers of the United States

History and usage

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The phrase "dead white males" (or "dead white men") is a rhetorical device used to deride the emphasis on Western civilization in schools (especially those in the United States), as the majority of figures considered significant in Western civilization are 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.

The term emerged in the late 1980s as an outgrowth of the Political Correctness vogueaccording to the National Post, Saturday, November 20, 1999. 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

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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 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

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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 although Shakespeare is a "dead white guy", he "knows his stuff" 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 ^*.

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

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• Identity politics
• Political correctness
• Postmodernism
• WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)

Notes

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External links

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• 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

Educational philosophy | Issues in the culture wars | Eurocentrism | David Williamson plays | 1995 plays | Dwem