<<"if i'm misreading the original post and the call is to simply
hire based on color, gender, religion, etc.  then i'm completely opposed.
any
employee, it seems to me, has to be able to bring something tangible to
the institution."

What do you define as "something tangible?"  Again, you're imposing some
abstract desire to make people who can participate in museums more like
the "standard," whatever the standard is at that particular point in
time.>>

Well, there is a standard for people who participate in museums.
Standards are not a bad thing.  They exist to qualify people to do certain
things when these people have reached a level of competence for
accomplishing those things. I certainly do want museums to hire based on
that person's past experience or current interest in museums and
preservation. Race, color, gender etc. should not even enter the equation.
 If I have a museum with 25 employees, and they are all white males
because white males were the only ones who met the criteria, there is
nothing wrong with that.  All that says is perhaps more people of other
races & genders should become qualified for the positions they apply for.
I WILL NOT EVER hire a person based solely upon color, race, religion or
gender to fill a quota when I find someone else who does a better job.

Call me what you will, but our history is too important to entrust to
anyone but the absolute most qualified people.

Rick Rowlands