The old white guys who are subverting American history
When I was a student in literature classes, almost all the authors whose works we read were white males.
This taught me a powerful lesson that I’m sure millions of my contemporaries also learned: Nearly all the great white male authors, ranked as the peak performers of American literary history, wrote searing critiques of the United States and this country’s uneven performance in living up to its ideals.
As grateful as I am for the chance to learn that lesson, would I want to resurrect the arbitrary criteria for admission that constrained the reading lists of those days?
I would prefer not to.
Those words — “I would prefer not to” — are at the core of Herman Melville’s agonizing story, “Bartleby the Scrivener.” Thus, using them here has given me a sneaky way to start proving my point.
When I was young, Herman Melville stalked me in syllabus after syllabus, drawing me into his deeply disturbing view of human nature. While I am glad I read his works, I hope that no one, rendered restless by pandemic confinement, fell victim to the idea that it would be a pleasant distraction to read Melville’s “Moby Dick.” I also hope that no one, despairing over the civic dysfunction of the nation, sought lighthearted amusement in Melville’s novel, “The Confidence Man,” a relentless mockery of the corruption that thrives under the thin veneer of virtue.
And, if you encounter any people still hoping to have their spirits lifted by Melville, instruct them to flee from “Bartleby the Scrivener.”
Hired at a lawyer’s office, Bartleby at first worked reliably at copying and proofreading legal documents, until he shifted gears and replied to every request, “I would prefer not to.” This formulaic refusal of every invitation to action became Bartleby’s death sentence. Eventually, when offered food, he preferred not to accept it, preferring starvation to life.
In 2021, when we hear repeated demands that teachers must present to their students a positive view of American history, instructors who hope to comply with these demands should instantly evacuate the classroom if anyone even mentions the name “Herman Melville.”
If the movement to silence critical perspectives on the nation’s history gains ground, this whole incorrigible cohort of “nattering nabobs of negativity”– Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Theodore Dreiser, to name a few — are going to be in big trouble.
These writers made it their mission to shake the complacency of their fellow citizens and to demand that we appraise the United States with unrestrained honesty. Thankfully these authors were much better writers than most of us; even if we take to shouting at each other over their right to be heard, their voices are sure to outlast ours.
In the meantime, I am ready to repurpose Bartleby’s favorite verb: I will prefer to stand by my appreciation of these great white male writers, just as I will prefer to keep pondering their uncomfortable commentaries on our nation.
The reading lists given to me when I was young were already excellent. The enhanced inclusiveness of the reading lists today has only made them better.