Some “progressives” denounce classical music as somehow perpetuating white hegemony, but others are now using it to advance their assault on civilization. In this Quillette essay, Heather Mac Donald writes about this odious trend.
After looking at how Beethoven and other composers are being turned into delivery devices for leftist propaganda, she concludes that the people behind this “see in past works of art only oppression and illegitimate privilege. Such deconstructive readings provide an excuse for ignorance and a pretext for prejudice. Even without that deconstructive agenda, however, rewriters and revisionists destroy the precious link between present and past that is the primary means of transmitting civilization and of keeping our minds open to beauty.”
The essay is drawn from Mac Donald’s latest book, When Race Trumps Merit. I’ll get a copy posthaste.