The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has revoked the membership of two racist patrons who racially profiled a group of black 7th graders on a school trip.
The Museum said it revoked memberships from two visitors and banned them from the museum’s grounds after a teacher said her students were racially profiled during a recent class trip, NBC News. Marvelyne Lamy, a teacher at Helen Y Davis Leadership Academy in Dorchester, Massachusetts, posted about the racist experience on Facebook where she detailed comments made by museum patrons and a tour guide.
According to Lamy, she escorted a group of 30 or more seventh-graders to the museum when a tour guide told the children, “no food, no drink, and no watermelon” after they entered the building. Later during the trip, Lamy claims one of her female students was told by a visitor; “It’s a shame that you’re not learning and instead stripping,” as the child danced to music playing in the exhibit. The teacher also said they were followed by security throughout the museum and berated.
The museum released a statement on their website on May 24 saying that it looked into the complaints and found two instances of two of its patrons making “racist comments” to students.
“We have identified the patrons who made the disparaging remarks and revoked their memberships, banning them from the Museum’s grounds,” the museum stated. “We will serve them with a no-trespass cease-and-desist notification.”
The Museum also added that all front-line staff will receive additional training on “how to engage with incoming school groups about policies and guidelines.”
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