Arizona State U. Scholars Condemn ‘White Ownership’ of Shakespeare

Two faculty members condemned “white ownership” of Shakespeare and the state’s manipulation of black history during an “Appropriation Series” at Arizona State University last week.

The scholars are pushing for changes in curriculum and leadership that reflect more “diverse” voices. During the panel, they spoke to eleven ASU students in the audience and other faculty members via Zoom.

English Professor Ruben Espinosa argued that Shakespeare’s legacy has been manipulated for purposes of exclusion and viewed through a lens of “white superiority.”

He said that for the Jan. 6 “insurrectionists” at the U.S. capitol, Shakespeare represents a symbol of “white exceptionalism” and “racial hierarchy.”

The organizers sent a letter to the Folger Shakespeare Library, the world’s largest Shakespeare collection located one block from the U.S. Capitol, and not to other institutions like the Library of Congress to notify them of the protest beforehand, he said.

Espinosa said this act reflects the insurrectionists’ perception of Shakespeare as an emblem of “white superiority,” which is why they deemed it important to protect the library during the protest.

“Shakespeare sits atop of that racial hierarchy. He is the epitome of what they consider white exceptionalism…and this is why he’s valuable,” the English professor said.

Espinosa also argued that the Shakespeare Library has a historical legacy tied to anti-immigrant and white exceptionalist sentiments, reflected in its founding leadership and early rhetoric.

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“It kind of has this origin in anti-immigrant sentiments, right, all the way to January 6th, when we think about that white exceptionalism, and this notion of a kind of white ownership of Shakespeare,” he said.

The scholar also said that when leadership roles in the Shakespearean field are taken by individuals who “do not look the part”—meaning they aren’t white—there is often resistance.

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Espinosa argued that a more meaningful appropriation of Shakespeare occurred when the Public Theater in New York had 30 black actors recite the famous “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy from Hamlet following the death of George Floyd.

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