for the record, i quote below the entire passage of mine that Miguel seems
to think shows me as advocating the Museum's imposition of "standards" on
communities and minority museum workers.  i believe anyone with adequate
reading skills will see that, on the contrary, my post suggests that the
Museum as a community-based institution has quite a lot to learn and gain
from its surrounding communities. further, this passage indicates that
museums should take advantage of that fact while at the same time
introducing the Museum as a profession to the community through
internships (in addition, of course, to its other community functions,
e.g., exhibit/event/education center).

BEGIN QUOTE
my reading of the original post is that the author is calling for
internship positions to be created or targeted based on the specific
skills or cultural knowledge of the potential intern. for example, if an
institution is considering presenting exhibitions or events aimed at
getting, say inner-city women into the room, why not hire a woman from the
inner city to help work on some aspect of the program?  she'd have to be
qualified for some aspect of the work as she (theoretically) knows the
target community better than the staff. the institution would in fact be
hiring someone qualified for the job, as the job is being tailored
specifically for her qualifications.  she will gain museum experience on
the job, which is what (i always thought) an internship is supposed to be
about.

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.

either way, we should avoid confusing the terms "qualified" and "experienced."

END QUOTE

--
i do not respond to unsolicited email.

kjk (inviting you to put as much thought into reading my post as you do into
writing yours).
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