Rather than defend excellence, many cultural institutions have capitulated to a politics that prioritizes identity over artistry, reshaping repertoire, programming, and personnel in the name of social justice. Mac Donald traces how these developments accelerated in the wake of the post-George Floyd “racial reckoning,” when cultural gatekeepers issued mea culpas and sought to “dismantle” perceived inequities in classical music.
With characteristic rigor and moral urgency, Mac Donald challenges the notion that Beethoven, Bach, or Brahms are symbols of exclusion, while exposing the paralysis of music professionals who refuse to defend their art. This book is a clarion call to protect an inheritance that transcends politics, asserting that beauty, complexity, and shared human experience must not be sacrificed on the altar of ideological conformity.
