Whiteness and “The Canon”

Abstract

It is a great tragedy that all things in this society, including history, pedagogy, and the pursuit of knowledge, must struggle under the asphyxiating sludge of race, which is the legacy of the myth of whiteness. I grew up in a different society where color has no meaning outside the painter's palette, and my early training was such that I developed a healthy admiration for the work of artists as varied as Francisco de Goya, Gustave Courbet, Kathe Kollwitz, Charles White, Jacob Lawrence, and Ben Shahn, without consciousness of their color.3 I also had considerable exposure to a history of world art without prejudice toward the contributions ofmy own culture to that heritage. I knew one language of art history; a race coding of that language would have appeared ludicrous.However, having since taught in the academy on three continents, I must testify to the cogency of the issues that you raise. A cursory look at the curricula of art history programs across the United States quickly reveals a methodical blindness to all that is not rooted in Western civilization, which is as troubling as it is enduring. This predilection is as evident in course plans and program leanings as it is in faculty hiring practices and student recruitment. My experience was not entirely different in Britain. There is truth, therefore, to the notion of a race-specific pedagogical system and environment so suffused with “absences of vital presences” as to alienate those who may not find themselves or their backgrounds reflected.4