Is educating people to recognize the racism in our institutions the problem here, really? Or is it that baseline assumption that “white” is “core” in our institutions the actual problem being shown here?
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That’s usually the case, sadly. When an incident like this crops up, it’s usually just the tip of a whole rotten iceberg…
Okay… I just spent far too many minutes trying to write racism in the iceberger web toy thingie…
I failed. Sorry I failed you all in trying to illustrate my point with a web toy for drawing icebergs…
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He’ll now have time to add onto his collection of all-White Hummels.
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Still better than collecting their attempts at making Black figurines…
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Why not both!
No. But it is important to make the distinction that this isn’t a Klansman. This is run of the mill white-supremacy and we should stamp it out with the same effort that we do the KKK, but if we edit things to make racists seem like caricatures of racism then it will lead to the same problems.
Someone could derail things and defend this guy saying “He’s not that racist, look at what he actually said!” When what he actually did say is more reflective of the current problem and arguably even more of a problem.
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Oh, god.
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Do you really believe that not understand the problem is helpful in solving the problem? Many white Americans do not understand just how much racism is embedded in all of our institutions, so how can they fix it if they remain ignorant of the core of the problem? 
This is not just about “not being racist” as individuals, that’s not the only problem we have to deal with. That is, in many ways the easier problem to tackle as individuals.
No one said that. Once again, that overt problem is easier to indentify and root out (we’ve done it before, at least in terms of digging them out of mainstream society in a visible way). But the deeper problem was never addressed, metastasized, and now remains in our society. It paved the way for the current white supremacist turn of much of the GOP. If you don’t deal with the ROOT of the problem, it remains a problem.
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I might have misunderstood. I believe in both educating people to recognize racism and also to question why/if “white” is “core.”
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Did you?
@Purplecat 's original post seems to be questioning whether education about racist structures is the problem, rather than addressing structural racism itself (which, if I misinterpreted their comment, I’d be happy to hear that clarification…
But it does seem like we might be on the same page, re-reading your second comment, though. So… okay!
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I think you took that sentence out of context. I 100% agree with you.
I’m saying that in order to get to the root of the problem we need to address the problem as it is.
Saying “traditional, core, white art audience” alone is different than “attract a broader and more diverse audience while maintaining the museum’s traditional core, white art audience.” The second one seems better which is why its actually worse.
This is a guy who doesn’t think he’s a white supremacist, but he’s actually propping up white supremacy.
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If ???
(Hint: There is no “better” version when it comes to white supremacy, be it passive or active… it’s ALL bad.)
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I did, so sorry for that!
But yeah, we’re in agreement I think!
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Yeah, it’s most certainly so core, that it’s taken for granted. Which is part of what has made it so difficult to root out once and for all. That and lazy white people.
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I missed the proper context of your comment as a reply to @Purplecat’s post. That post is ambiguous. Who are the people trained to view things in racial terms? Present day art lovers? White Europeans at the beginning of the slave trade? Depending on who @Purplecat is talking about the comment has very different meanings.
Indubitably.
I wish I lived in a world where ‘White’ is not automatically the assumed ‘default’…
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Indeed… and male, too.
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Thank you; that one is so deeply implied that I didn’t even think to mention it.
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I’m perfectly fine of a museum of marble statues. /s
