The “KarINs” of Classics

*I have changed the lettering in “Karen” in honor of all my friends named Karen who are not really “KarINs.” This is part of my effort to try and make this space welcoming for ALL! My goal is not to trigger hurt in anyone who reads my posts, but in love share truth that prayerfully brings a change of heart. The “IN” represents all of those, still plagued by the disease of White supremacy, that keep trying to insert themselves IN my human experience to control it. May this post remind all of us that we are FREE to enjoy the bountiful blessings of the classical tradition, and as DuBois declared we can “Summon Aristotle and what soul I will and they all come graciously with no scorn or condescension.”

Typically I am a person who desires to engage in civil discourse about most topics, but one debate I rarely participate in, is the one where I have to defend or justify my stance on making the classical space welcoming to all people. I often get emails, social media messages and responses to my blog posts where some “scholar” thinks it is necessary to educate me on how bringing diversity into classical studies is messing up the tradition (I always delete the message or don’t approve the message to be posted…ain’t nobody got time for that!). These messages reveal a lack of understanding just how impactful the classical tradition has been to so many different people. The stories of diversity WITHIN the classical tradition and SURROUNDING the classical tradition, are why it is such a powerful force. Preserving the “whiteness” of the classical tradition, does not preserve the classical tradition. Instead it limits it. Honestly, making the classical tradition only about the Black Intellectual Tradition also limits it. The classical tradition is for everyone and history shows us this.

I was so moved when I read Dante’s INFERNO, because I reflected on how Dante took Virgil with him into the depths of hell and he was his guide and comfort as he traversed the darkness, the fire, the dragon. Virgil’s presence with Dante symbolized how the memory of the ancient texts was a source of comfort for him during his darkest times. This is a lesson for us on how the literature of those who have lived and survived before us, can be hidden in our hearts, lighting our path to freedom. Dante reminds me of how while Martin Luther King was in jail, he gave birth to one of the most powerful pieces of literature in American literary history, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” In King’s darkest time, without books, paper, pen or pencil, he wrote a plea to humanity about the inequality suffered by the Black community. The letter is filled with so many references to the classical tradition, from Plato, to St. Thomas Aquinas to Augustine all of these being his “Virgil” through his own personal hell of being in a southern jail during a time where he didn’t know if he would live or be lynched.

I am fascinated by the stories of diverse people that found wisdom, comfort and hope in the classical tradition. I also think it is important to be clear on what I mean by diversity. I mean a universal difference. When I think of diversity, I do no believe in the exclusion of White stories and perspectives. I know for a fact that some think diversity means that because the White narrative has dominated education, conversations and culture so much, then they must be silenced (even cancelled) so that all of the voices that Whites silenced can now be heard. I live by a very different principle and it is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I detest being silenced (which is why it is usually very difficult to silence me), so I will not do it to others, even to those who have tried to silence me since I was a child. Coming from the gracious love of Christ, I simply mean that ALL are welcome to the Great Conversation and this space is safe for us to speak, listen, change and even teach one another through our human experiences.

When I receive letters from what I now call “The KarINs of Classics” admonishing me to stop bringing diversity into the classical tradition, I view this as an effort rooted in White Supremacy. Why do I feel this way? Because how can anyone think that they have the right or authority to tell me how to read and connect to the classical tradition? Or even worse, why do they think that they have the authority to silence those of us who want to have this conversation about making the classical tradition accessible to all. That’s some “Jim Crowish” thinking right there! Am I to be silenced about my human experience and how these texts connect to it? Just about every piece of literature and history is inspired by some text in the classical tradition and each author or historian is weaving their human experience and perspective in the writing. These writings teach us about human history and human life, so that we learn and grow to be better human beings. We also learn how we are not so different. Learning about how Socrates or Antigone stood up against injustice inspires my human experience. These human stories intersect our parallel universes and we can find healing, if the “KarINs” would stop being so afraid of the bridges being built.

When I receive these letters, I ask myself, why is it wrong to bring my experience as a Black person into the conversation when everyone else can? It reminds me of those videos on Tik Tok or Instagram when a person of color is just doing daily mundane things, like um…BREATHING and a “KarIN” comes along telling them why they can’t just exist, even going so far as calling the police to have them removed from their presence. Usually the person is just minding their business, bird watching or fishing or jogging through a neighborhood and a “KarIN” takes it upon themselves to remind them that their brown body is not welcome in the space of humanity. As those videos are the epitome of illogical thinking so are those who think it is necessary to tell people not to read the tradition by connecting it to their human experience. 

One of the main reasons why we are in this state of discord is not only because we are all fighting to “own” a space that belongs to ALL of us, but the discord also comes from failing to see how all of our stories are actually in the classical tradition. If you read the various works of the canon, especially ancient and early medieval texts, you will see how the authors reveal people of varying ethnicities in their stories and historic retellings. We actually learn more about the world by actually SEEING the diversity in the texts. We learn more about how humanity can have a relationship without the color line dividing us and making us so angry with one another. We learn more about how the world and time did NOT begin in the West. We learn more about how people of color also were royalty who were able to rule the world and were respected by the Western world. We learn more about how a literary and intellectual tradition was birthed in Africa and the Middle East that the Western world learned from and did not hide their influence from their literature. The “KarINs” who want to silence this seem to want to say, “We shouldn’t focus too much on that, because we just need to focus more and truth, goodness and beauty….in EUROPE. Truth, goodness and beauty did not only reside or originate in Europe. All of our ancestors have contributed to wondering about these noble things and it’s only our racially plagued generations that want to argue about this, when we should all be seeing how we are all HERE. We cannot see one another if we are colorblind, because our physical appearance does affect our human experience. It is my hope that one day we come to a place where that is no longer true (ya’ll please check out Theory of Racelessness by Dr. Sheena Mason), but to understand history, we have to face the truth of how the physical appearance of people has shaped human history, especially here in America (but colorism is actually an issue around the globe). Facing this, can help us change the narrative one day, but we cannot get there by denying this past.

Seeing all of our ancestors IN the classical tradition could possibly help us value one another more and could also help us heal from feelings of inferiority that were birthed in us through colonization, the Middle Passage, slavery, Jim Crow and sadly, America. It could help people of color, living in those places with a racist past, to value themselves more. Oftentimes the “KarINs” that want to regulate how much we talk about diversity in the classical tradition, also don’t seem to understand the value of teaching how Achilles fought Memnon and the Ethiopians or how Memnon and the Ethiopians fought on the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War. We read about the Trojan War and few understand that it is also part of ancient African history. These same “KarINs” want us to just focus on the good, virtue and beauty in the Western World, but don’t want us to know about how Muslims preserved the works of Aristotle so we can still read it today. These same “KarINs” rave about how all wisdom came from Greece and/or Rome, but don’t know that Euclid credits the Egyptians with some his knowledge about Geometry. We all need to know this, and especially our children need to know this. The Classical tradition is not just European or Western history, because all of us have been sharing this earthly space since the beginning of time and our lives are so intertwined. We don’t understand our connection because racism keeps us from seeing how our human experiences woven together create a beautiful tapestry of different shades of human life! Knowing the truth about human history should cause “KarINs” to understand that the world does not revolve around all of us just gazing in awe at the greatness of whiteness, but instead the truth sets us all free to gaze in awe at the beauty and majesty of our shared humanity.

So I do not argue with “KarINs” because I am way too busy building bridges, cultivating fellowship and mining the truth of our human stories from the ruins of racisms war against seeing how every single human being has deposited greatness into the history of humanity. I do not argue with “KarINs” because they have no authority in my life or anyone else’s to police how we find inspiration in the classical tradition. It is a table bountifully running over with plenty for all of us to find nourishment and so I will keep sitting at this lunch counter to partake no matter what a “KarIN” may say. I hope you will join me in the feast.