Nothing can be Changed Until it is Faced: Museum Solidarity Statements as Reflections of Understanding Systemic Racism

Abstract

The May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police led many institutions to write and share statements opposing racism, committing to change, and claiming solidarity with the Black community. The authors saw an opportunity to compile data and assess the commitment of our field to racial equity by taking the statements at face value, examining them, and performing a content analysis. In our view, most statements of solidarity would represent a museum's best effort at reaching out to Black communities and communities of color, and at articulating the value it placed on its relationship with those communities. This assessment of “best effort” tells us that there is moderate progress toward the racial equity and justice that has been a hot topic for decades, but the findings suggest that only a fraction of U.S. museums are publicly facing their complicity in White supremacy culture, from the make-up of their boards and staff to the dominant content found in collections, exhibitions, and programs. The authors challenge this status, provide new resources as yet another starting point to help invite museums identify and examine the racism that lies within their institutions, and call for a more genuine commitment to the difficult but necessary steps to eliminate systemic inequity.