Cultural Responsiveness in a Post-DEI Era
This post is part of a series examining the concepts of the Museums & Race Report Card. This series is intended to help readers more effectively use the Report Card by increasing their understanding of each key concept in light of justice and equity work. Each post has been written by a member of the Museums & Race Steering Committee with feedback from the group.
We are at an unusual crux in the 21st century, ostensibly doomed to repeat our terrible histories, as autocratic political shifts sweep across the globe. These movements towards totalitarianism are based on ideals of a burnished past that glorify homogeneity and vilify differences. As more governments embrace authoritarianism, places of learning are intentionally targeted—defunded, battered, and, sometimes, literally bombed in order to push singular narratives that narrow people’s understanding and limit their education. All the attempts at equity-building work in recent years are now under attack, especially in the United States, where the Trump government is explicitly “terminat[ing] every diversity, equity, and inclusion program across the entire federal government,” and using federal funding as a cudgel to bully other institutions into following its wake.
Museums and libraries have been the mass casualties of the Trump government’s obliteration of cultural funding, archives, and, really, anything that even dares hint at inclusivity. We know that race is one of the lowest hanging fruits in these situations, ripe for the picking. We know that controlling the narrative is critical to controlling the people. Restricting learning and access to education restricts the freedom people have to expand their horizons.
Now, more than ever, we need tools that help us navigate social growth so that our museums don’t stagnate, or actively devolve. The M&R report card can be seen as a tool of resistance that helps us take action, gentle or drastic, in the wake of oppressive regimes.
Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
In recent years, there has been increasing pressure on museums (externally and from within) to decolonize their operations and implement more equitable practices. Museums have responded—sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes reluctantly—in efforts to remain relevant to their time. Systemic prejudice has been brought into sharp focus as racist infrastructures within museums are questioned, and social justice movements have compelled institutions to respond to a range of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion–focused initiatives. For many, the work had only just begun. More time is required to undo centuries of encrusted racism that has grown like barnacles and built its own discriminatory biome.
The societal bend towards justice and equity has always been propelled by massive social actions. The Black Lives Matter movement, in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin, among many others, sparked a sustained campaign to address structural racism and racial inequity in the US. In 2014, Michael Brown’s murder produced the #MuseumsAreNotNeutral and #MuseumsRespondtoFerguson campaigns. The push toward dismantling systemic racist structures included inspiring the creation of Museums & Race. With every subsequent horrific incident that made global news, we saw incremental changes towards social justice, but such initiatives were mostly ad hoc. In 2020, the murder of George Floyd forced a global racial reckoning and propelled mass action around the world. Since then, “DEAI” as a concept has gained significant traction within institutions worldwide.
In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, many museums started their own equity-building initiatives—with caveats. From funding to staffing, museums—big and small—have expressed limitations to their varying levels of engagement. The Museums & Race Report Card serves as a guide to help museums and museum workers determine their stages of responsiveness and consider what more can be done.
What Does it Mean to be a Responsive Museum?
Museums are inconsequential without their visitors. Constantly vying to attract wide swathes of visitors from varying demographics, museums stay relevant as long as they matter to their audiences. It is imperative for museums to be responsive to their visitors’ interests to drive audience engagement: from pursuits of leisurely subjects related to hobbies and recreations to subject matter that addresses their concerns and challenges.
A responsive museum understands the diversity of their visitorship and their need for deeper cultural contexts. This engagement translates into meaningful action in several ways:
- Well thought-out exhibitions that incorporate audience insight
- Regular community consultations that influence the planning of all curatorial, exhibition, and programming initiatives
- Displays and events that encourage critical thinking and productive conversations
- Curatorial strategies (from acquisitions to repatriation) that ensure equity and inclusion, while applying an anti-colonial lens to its overall functions.
Applying the Report Card to Museums
As the Report Card asks, “How often do we engage in conversation or action around race, diversity, inclusion, or representation? Is it sustained or reactive?”
Do our museums go beyond lip service and jumping on bandwagons to capture the zeitgeist in informed ways?
In the face of direct attacks on museums in service of white supremacy, now is the time for our institutions to step up and be truly inclusive and anti-racist. Catering to their diverse audiences is at the core of museums’ educational and community service functions. These core functions, when implemented skilfully, help to create better educated and more just societies. They provide paths to learning, thinking critically, and healing dysfunctional societies. They decenter institutions and instead center the communities that museums serve.
We have seen museums slash exhibitions, take on objectionable sponsorships and questionable board members, or cancel programs in an attempt to appease ruling governments and powerful donors. And we know that these actions uphold harmful power structures and dilute integrity.
Applying the Report Card helps us measure the performance of our museums. Are our institutions performative or substantive? Are they forward-moving institutions of decolonized learning or are they leaning into their colonial roots to uphold Eurocentric views?
Museums can be life-changing organizations. They can be inspiring, uplifting, and immensely influential. But as Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Museums have to recognize the power they hold to bring about seismic change. And that starts with being responsive, responsibly. By recognizing that museums serve people, not power.
Museums & Race 