San Francisco Museum Curator Resigns After His "White Supremacist"-Informed Philosophy of Art Collection Is Exposed

And what's "white supremacy" now?

"White supremacy" means describing efforts to diversify the artists collected, but reassuring people that "white artists will also still be collected" because to completely ban white artists from the museum would be "reverse discrimination."

That is now "white supremacy" requiring a forced resignation.

"Gary's removal from SFMOMA is non-negotiable," read the petition. "Considering his lengthy tenure at this institution, we ask just how long have his toxic white supremacist beliefs regarding race and equity directed his position curating the content of the museum?"

This accusation -- that Garrels' choices as an art curator are guided by white supremacist beliefs -- is a very serious one. Unsurprisingly, it does not stand up to even minimal scrutiny.

The petitioners cite few examples of anything even approaching bad behavior from Garrels. Their sole complaint is that he allegedly concluded a presentation on how to diversify the museum's holdings by saying, "don't worry, we will definitely still continue to collect white artists."

Garrels has apparently articulated this sentiment on more than one occasion. According to artnet.com, he said that it would be impossible to completely shun white artists, because this would constitute "reverse discrimination." That's the sum total of his alleged crimes. He made a perfectly benign, wholly inoffensive, obviously true statement that at least some of the museum's featured artists would continue to be white. The petition lists no other specific grievances.

posted by Ace at 04:02 PM

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