The #museumsrespondtoFerguson Initiative, a Necessary Conversation

Abstract

Abstract The killing of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO in August 2014 has stimulated an ongoing national dialogue about race and racism in the United States. Museums have been involved in this discussion, primarily on social media. This article documents the origins, the evolution, and the impact of the #museumsrespondtoFerguson initiative that began in December 2014 and that continues a year later. It discusses the role that museums can and should play in the Ferguson initiative, and addresses questions about the relationship of museums’ individual missions to larger civic issues. The word “Ferguson” in museum discourse has come to refer not so much to the town and event as to larger concerns about race, racism, and the continuing lack of inclusion in our cultural spaces.