On Black People and Visiting Museums

Ok. I saw this article that said Michelle Obama attacked American museums by saying they are only for White people. 


This particular sentence stood out, "If black kids don’t think that museums and other such places are “places for them,” then that is a problem with black culture, NOT our museums."


All I could say was GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT!!


Really? So that's licence for the curators to team up so one could talk about the exhibits while the other can follow and stalk the kids?

I remember going on a field trip to the Old Courthouse and the Jefferson Memorial as an eighth grader in the St. Louis Public School system. There was another school that was there as well, so we all went together. I kept thinking, why were the White kids were touching everything? The curators specifically told us not to touch anything because the oil on the fingerprints will degrade the artifacts over time. That was told to us before we even started the tour. Well a couple of Black kids noticed (including myself) so we were whispering among ourselves about the situation. We decided to perform an experiment. One of the Black kids tried touching the same artifact after one of the White kids did. The vigilant curator ignored the White kid touching the item, but was quick to tell the Black kid that they couldn't touch anything.


This happened throughout the museum. I didn't learn anything pertaining to the curriculum aside from what I already knew. But I learned more than I bargained for.

I suspect the kids didn't learn anything either. From that point on, every time I hear about the Old Court House and Jefferson Memorial, all I could say is "Maaan Fuck those places! "

All I came away with was. "That predatory behavior really takes the fun out of learning."

BUT today, I try to visit art exhibits whenever I can. And I always have that feeling of people watching me with piercing eyes just to make sure I'm not touching anything, or "getting too close".