It seems that wokeness in its most toxic and obnoxious forms has been forced into retreat here in America, but in the England, it’s apparently still burning out of control.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which manages William Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, has reportedly announced that it will “decolonize” future celebrations of the great playwright over concerns that his works could be used to promote “white supremacy.”
There have been enough stories like these over the years to know that this isn’t a Babylon Bee satirical report. It’s real.
The Birthplace Trust is, according to The Daily Telegraph, “decolonizing” its collection of Shakespeare’s works to “create a more inclusive museum experience.”
The Shakespeare trust said that some of Shakespeare’s works contain “language or depictions that are racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful.”
Among the other things the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust finds problematic about Shakespeare—whom they don’t seem to particularly like—is that he’s been portrayed as a “universal” genius and that establishing his works as a foundation for high art reinforces “Anglo-cultural supremacy.”
According to a research project sponsored by the trust in 2022, celebrating Shakespeare has promoted the idea of British “superiority” and thereby “has caused harm.” The project reportedly urged the trust to stop calling Shakespeare the “greatest,” instead urging it to praise him as part of a community of “equal and different” writers.
That’s not a surprise when you look at the bio of one of the project leaders, Helen Hopkins:
Helen’s publications focus on how material objects can both challenge and perpetuate existing power structures, particularly through commemorative practices in a range of cultural institutions around the world. Her research highlights the ways in which these practices shape historical narratives, aiming to subvert dominant power dynamics and identify an inclusive, anti- and de-colonial form of cultural diplomacy that challenges Shakespeare’s historical usage as a tool of cultural supremacy.
Not only has the trust employed leftist academics to shape its portrayal of Shakespeare, but it’s also been funded by organizations explicitly promoting DEI.
“Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust later received funding from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, which finances projects that boost diversity and inclusion,” the Telegraph reported. “Some of its organized events celebrated Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, and a Romeo and Juliet-inspired Bollywood dance workshop.”
It’s interesting that the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust characterizes its proposed changes as “decolonizing” Shakespeare. They are literally trying to diminish the man in his own hometown, which I might add relies almost entirely on the tourism brought by Shakespeare’s fame.
Beyond the pure insanity of DEI-ifying Shakespeare, there is something particularly perverse about the fact that this bulldozing of the man’s reputation is coming from a “trust” ostensibly dedicated to preserving his legacy. But this is more common than not.
The elite organizations, flush with money, have driven this top-down social revolution whether it be in the U.S. or England. Frankly, history is too important to leave to academia, which seeks its destruction, not its preservation.
Shakespeare is popular around the globe because his works really are of genius. They’ve been adapted to other cultural circumstances, but have not lost their power or meaning in the process.
But the idea of a universal standard of truth or morality—which is very much a product of Christian ideas and culture—is hateful to the relativistic Left. So, they’ve used their institutional power to wage a vast war against the past, to purge Western societies of their intellectual, cultural, and religious legacies.
The leftists who clearly control the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust clearly want to expunge anything to do with Western civilization, with the hated white men who stand atop their hierarchy of oppression. To do so, they and their allies have to diminish the great men of history, like Shakespeare, in order to promote their view of cultural relativism and equality.
In America, their institutional power is waning. They’ve been exposed as factually, intellectually, and morally fraudulent.
One can only hope that the UK finally rejects this madness, that they save their history from the Vandals bearing PhDs, and regain the pride they justly have in not just Shakespeare but in the other great men of their past.
