Shakespeare and Social Justice Ideology: Othello Is Not About Racism

“Unfortunately, I don’t think it simply comes down to the location of a portrait. In recent years, social justice ideology has infiltrated many of our institutions, especially the universities and, particularly, in the humanities.”

A few years ago, students at the University of Pennsylvania removed a large Shakespeare portrait from a staircase that students and faculty members in the English department walk by every day. They then, “put up a photograph of Audre Lorde, the black feminist poet who died in 1992.” The students, “said the action reflects their interest in reading a more diverse range of voices than has been the case in the past and sending a message that study of literature isn’t just about the traditionally revered authors.”1

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with reading a more diverse range of voices. Moreover, I cannot read minds, so I cannot comment on the motives of students who moved the portrait of Shakespeare to a less central location in the English department. As an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania who remembers climbing the stairwell to classes in the English department and seeing Shakespeare’s portrait in so central a location as a testament to his status as perhaps the greatest playwright in history, I do find it regrettable. But that’s just an opinion on where to put a portrait. If it all simply came down to the location of a portrait, I’d be content to have a laugh and move on.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it simply comes down to the location of a portrait. In recent years, social justice ideology has infiltrated many of our institutions, especially the universities and, particularly, in the humanities. On its face, this should be a good thing. Who could object to “social justice”? Well, there are many reasons to do so. In general, it is not “social justice” in principle to which we should object but the various ways in which it has been implemented as a matter of ideology.