Museums and Structural Racism: What Can (and Should) Be Done?

• In Event: Places and Contexts for Informal Learning Environments Research: Homes, Gardens, Camps, and Museums

Abstract

What is, and what might be, the role of museums in promoting racial equity? In this presentation, we apply lessons from the social study of race and racism to the specific circumstances of museums. We first draw attention to the structural causes of racial inequity, then argue that most equity-oriented programming in the museum world is neither designed nor intended to address racism and racial inequity at the structural level. We discuss three reasons why museums tend not to address the structural causes of racial inequity, then outline three possible pathways forward. One cross-cutting theme that emerges is the challenge of addressing broader structural (non-local) causes of inequity while still remaining grounded in, and responsive to, one’s local context.

Authors

• Noah Weeth Feinstein, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Joanne Jones-Rizzi, Science Museum of Minnesota

• Cecilia Garibay

• Marjorie Bullitt Bequette, Science Museum of Minnesota

• Esther HsuBorger, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Evelyn Christian Ronning, Science Museum of Minnesota