In 2016, the oh so sagacious students at the University of Pennsylvania went to the office of Jed Etsy, the chair of the English department, and removed a portrait of Shakespeare and replaced it with the picture of Audre Lorde (1934-1992), a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” Etsy stated “The students are affirming their commitment to a more inclusive mission for the English department.”
I read Lorde’s poem To My Daughter The Junkie On The Train in the mid 80’s and was blown away by it’s complexity, empathy, and helplessness. Audre Lorde couldn’t have written that amazing poem without William Shakespeare, he held her hand as she wrote.
Shakespeare is the father of intricate eloquence in the modern English tongue. The King James Bible, the Declaration Of Independence, the Gettysburg Address are examples of this. All our great literature is because of Shakespeare.
When stupid adults let babies set the course for our culture, we will live in an idiocracy one day. Our IQ is already lower than the Victorians. Teach critical thinking. And teach Shakespeare.