In the course of our school year, the kids and I have visited quite a few museums. I've noticed that some are just a vast wash of white people and some attract a great mix of races. I wonder what it is about them that draws certain people. Is it the subject, the advertising, the hours, the outreach programs?
Here's my current classifications:
The "mixed" ones
Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center aka Maritime Museum
Seattle Bug Safari
SAM
Northwest African American Museum
The "white" ones
Pacific Science Center
Museum of Flight
Woodland Park Zoo
Seattle Police Museum
Ones we've not seen or it's been ages
Wing Luke Museum
Burke Museum
Frye Art Museum
Science Fiction Museum
EMP
What do you think about the idea of grouping museums this way? Do you notice the same attendance on racial lines? Would you put the museums in the same groups as I do? Any favorites that I missed?
1 comment:
MOHAI is mixed. Burke Museum is on the white side. Part of this is probably location, cost (another marker of privilege), and marketing to various communities. I also find myself surprised at how white the families are at the zoo, but how racially mixed the school groups are. Must be another marker of privilege - white mamas are more often able to be at home parents who take the kids to these places. I wonder if your perspective about the racial mix would change if you went on weekends....
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