In defense of universalism

As we know, racialist discourse is gaining popularity day by day in Quebec, displaying a desire to reduce the racial inequalities that persist in contemporary society.

Posted at 12:00 p.m.

Philippe Lorange

Philippe Lorange
Master’s student in sociology at UQÀM

These adherents prefer to call themselves “anti-racists”, but by studying their speeches, one can realize quite quickly that their ideas are terribly regressing our conceptions of life in society. We are thus told that universalism, inherited from Christianity and then the Enlightenment, would be a deception advocated by “the dominant” to perpetuate white supremacy over marginalized communities. Certainly. Do we really need to remember that this revolutionary idea has helped guide men from all over the world towards freedom? Thanks to her, slavery and imperial colonialism are a thing of the past, whatever pedantic Marxist scholars say.

Let’s say that our racialists are fond of intellectual shortcuts of the same type, ranging from all sorts of interpretations of society to say the least hazardous. Let’s take an example.

At the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), where I study, I was recently able to hear a comment that was surprising to say the least. At the turn of an oral presentation, the professor, whom I respect and who has undeniable qualities, affirms that classical music was “white and Western”. As soon as I heard that, I asked how classical music would be “white”. A colleague replies that this is obvious, while another rolls her eyes. But still ? Doesn’t classical music find an echo on all the continents of the world? Of course, I am told: it remains no less “European-centric” and its big names are “white”. But don’t the other peoples of the world have their composers, their interpreters, their listeners? How does the “whiteness” of the great Western composers permeate their scores? They answer me with groans of exasperation, accusing me of showing “bad faith”, like an annoying schoolboy who doesn’t want to understand anything.

If we know the history of communism, we can make a legitimate analogy here with Maoist China, where the Red Guards banned classical music in the name of its “bourgeois belonging”. The Cultural Revolution was to leave no trace of the perversions of the capitalist West. Dissident musicians had the courage to play Chopin, Bach and Rachmaninoff in secret and to transmit the genius of these composers to potential talents.

Today, it is in the middle of Western land that we take up this discourse by simply replacing the word “bourgeois” by “white”. Is marked with the seal of infamy all that would be “white”, because likely to promote white supremacy and the ghostly “systemic racism”.

Admittedly, the coercion that falls on citizens is not at all the same as in Mao’s time, but the reasoning is strictly the same.

We would be mistaken to believe that this event should be stored only in the bazaar of anecdotes. On the contrary, it is only one of the symptoms of the disease which has plagued the university for many years, namely the dogmatism woke. Straight out of American campuses and their obsession with skin color, this academic dogmatism is descending on our establishments by establishing itself as the only legitimate and acceptable ideology. Any recalcitrant who dares to recall the legitimacy of the ideals of modernity, such as universalism, sees himself placed in the box of the naive who perpetuate white supremacy. He is scorned, insulted, vilified as an outcast: should we then be surprised at the climate of fear that descends on the last free-thinkers of the university? They know that in case of “deviant” speech, they will suffer ostracism from their peers and the contempt of many teachers.

However, it is good to remember that some things are indeed universal, transcending skin color, gender, sexual orientation and any other characteristic.

Every man on Earth is capable of being touched by A violin on the sand of Rachmaninoff, by the liebestraum of Liszt or by the Nocturnes of Chopin. You don’t have to be white or European to awaken your sensitivity to these works of genius. Regardless of continent, ethnicity or religion, any man can aspire to universal ideals and enjoy works of genius that transcend time and space. To forget this essential contribution of modernity would unfortunately make us fall into a very dark period of humanity, where biological differences would partition men into very restricted groups.

Is it too late to reverse the new cultural revolution? No, because universalism corresponds to a natural aspiration in man, in his most noble part.


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