No country for white artists...
Curator resigns after furore over ‘reverse discrimination’
An art museum curator has resigned after he was accused of racism for saying he would continue to collect works by white male artists.
Gary Garrels, senior curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the US, stepped down after employees started a petition that accused him of using ‘white supremacist and racist language’.
After he used the apparently offensive term ‘reverse discrimination’, in the latest example of ‘cancel culture’ the petitioners said his removal was ‘non-negotiable’.
The petition, which has 260 signatures, describes how Mr Garrels concluded a presentation on new acquisitions by saying: ‘ Don’t worry, we will continue to collect white male artists.’
He said deliberately ignoring works by white male artists would result in ‘reverse discrimination’.
The petition says: ‘Vitriolic terms like these are damaging and counter-productive to bringing the attention and compassion needed in [the museum].’
They add that Mr Garrels’s ‘use of dog-whistle terms and divisive language is the antithesis of the spirit of [the museum]’s strategic plan’ which was put in place to help those who have been historically underrepresented in the art world.
The petition asks: ‘Just how long have his toxic white supremacist beliefs regarding race and equity directed his position curating the content of the museum?’
It continues: ‘Through actions and words, Gary has been obtuse (at best) to the point of offence or deliberately racist (at worst) in his retorts to criticism... Gary’s removal is non-negotiable.’
Mr Garrels, who worked at the museum from 1993 to 2000 and then again from 2008, responded in an email: ‘I do not believe I have ever said that it is important to collect the art of white men. I have said that it is important that we do not exclude consideration of the art of white men.’
He added: ‘I realised almost as soon as I used the term “reverse discrimination” that this is an offensive term and was an extremely poor choice of words on my part. I am very sorry at how upsetting these words were to many staff.’
It comes after 150 cultural figures, including JK Rowling, signed an open letter in Harper’s Magazine last week addressing what is known on social media as ‘cancel culture’, which describes a withdrawal of support for a public figure in response to their behaviour.
The letter said: ‘ The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted.’
‘Poor choice of words’