This document provides resources for museum professionals to better understand institutional racism and their role as allies and gatekeepers in creating more equitable workplaces. It begins with podcasts, videos and articles that introduce key concepts like white privilege, microaggressions, and being an effective ally. Deeper explorations include research on transparent salaries, increasing diversity in leadership, the Black Lives Matter movement, and introducing critical race theory. The goal is to provide tools to have difficult conversations around structural inequity and open museums to more inclusion.

1. Undoing Institutional Racism:
The Role of Ally and Gatekeeper
in Museums
Veronica Alvarez
Ben Garcia
Jaclyn Roessel
Lisa Sasaki

2. WELCOME! Settle in and then…
• On the index card, write down the reason you came to this session
today and a question or specific issue you hope we will address

3. Make Space, Take Space

4. Definitions
• race vs. ethnicity
• structural racism
• equity vs. equality
• ally/gatekeeper
• privilege

5. • Fill out the Privilege self-evaluation. Write any questions that come up
for you at the bottom of the page.

6. Don’t be a Mosquito!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDd3bzA7450

7. Talk
Show!

8. • Take a few minutes each to talk to your neighbor about how anything
that has been discussed in this session relates to your museum or
professional realm

9. Reflection
• On the notecard in your envelope, write a
pledge to yourself that begins,
Example: I pledge to take the following
action on behalf of creating a more
equitable workplace: …
• Place the notecard in the envelope, seal it
and write your mailing address on the
front and turn it in. We will mail this back
to you in January

11. 1
Undoing Institutional Racism: The Role of Ally and Gatekeeper in Museums,
Resource List (October 2017)
Start with these:
Code Switch Podcast: "Gene and Shereen dig into why it's so hard to talk about white identity in America -- and why it's
really important that we figure out how."
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/can-we-talk-about-whiteness/id1112190608?i=1000369711480&mt=2
Robin DiAngelo speaks about being an ally and gatekeeper, white privilege, white fragility, and micro-aggressions. An
overview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2-4PTo4Krk&authuser=1
An initial list of clear examples of white privilege for folks who do not understand it.
http://www.sap.mit.edu/content/pdf/white_privilege_checklist.pdf
A glossary of terms.
https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/docs/rcc/RCC-Structural-Racism-Glossary.pdf
This is the antiracist checklist we shared during the session, in case you want to source it.
https://robindiangelo.com/2014site/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Antiracist-Checklist-2015.pdf
Robin DiAngelo’s resource list. Lots of great material here from a seasoned trainer and white ally.
https://robindiangelo.com/resources-2/
For a deeper exploration:
Creating more equitable workplaces:
One organization’s experiment with complete transparency around salaries. A compelling examination of structural
inequity in Non-Profit sector that keeps people of color out of leadership.
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/11/02/nonprofit-unicorns-realities-make-executive-directors-color-
mythical/?utm_source=Daily+Newswire&utm_campaign=f39f2643d1-
EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_11_2&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_94063a1d17-f39f2643d1-12275673
Research published in Scientific American that “deepens our understanding of how diversity operates and provides
some modestly successful strategies.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-myths-plus-a-few-best-practices-for-achieving-diversity/
The Dreamspace Project. A workbook/toolkit for opening the museum to equity and inclusion, with a focus on art
museums.
https://incluseum.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/thedreamspaceprojectworkbook.pdf

12. 2
White Privilege/Critical Race Theory/Black Lives Matter:
A syllabus for Introduction to Race Theory from Professor Adrienne Keene at Brown University with many readings.
https://blogs.brown.edu/amst-2220j-s01-2017-fall/syllabus/
An extensive bibliography of mostly academic articles on critical whiteness:
http://nathanrtodd.netfirms.com/documents/Spanierman_Todd_Neville(2006)Whiteness_Bib.pdf
Context for, and information about, the Black Lives Matter movement. An extensive, annotated resource list with many
live links created by Frank Leon Roberts, a professor at NYU.
http://www.blacklivesmattersyllabus.com
Various resources from tolerance.org, a site for educators who want to teach about structural racism.
http://www.tolerance.org/teacher-perception-tool
http://www.tolerance.org/article/controversial-subjects-classroom
http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/being-culturally-responsive
http://www.tolerance.org/module/anti-bias-framework-unpacking-diversity
http://www.tolerance.org/article/racism-and-white-privilege