Dead White Males - Encyclopedia

Dead white men 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 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, Chri ...

Dead White Males, Dead White Males - Critics of the term, Dead White Males - History and usage, Dead White Males - Popular culture, WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)

Dead white men 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 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 philosophers, scientists, explorers and political figures
European and American authors (especially those in the traditional Literary canon)
Founding Fathers of the United States

DWEM 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. The term was used pejoratively in the early 1990s by those advocating multicultural studies. The term finds widespread usage among members of the educational establishment who see students as agents of social change.

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. It had a more specific reference, to the content of compulsory early college courses, which were seen to defined civilisation too narrowly. 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 view is the "Great man theory" of history.

WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)

Dead White Males - Critics of the term

The term DWEM was subsequently adopted by defenders of the traditional curriculum. Such supporters saw the "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, many people point 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 or non-white intellectuals. 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 "white" or eurocentric traditions.

Dead White Males - 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 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 [1].

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