The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston apologized after a teacher claimed her students were subjected to racism during a class field trip.
Marvelyne Lamy, a teacher at Helen Y Davis Leadership Academy, posted a scathing review of her students’ museum experience on Facebook, reports NBC News. In the lengthy post, Lamy details how her seventh graders, who are “ALL Black and brown,” were treated during their May 16 visit.
The teacher accused museum staff of telling the children “no food, no drink, and no watermelon” during an introductory speech. Following the speech, Lamy writes her students were subjected to a double standard.
“We were instructed not to touch any of the artifacts in the museum, yet the white students there touched the displays several times while security looked on without saying anything,” she continued.
“The minute one of our students followed suit, the security guards would yell at them that they should not touch exhibits.”
The security guards also followed Lamy’s class as they walked through the exhibits. As she gathered the students to leave, one of her female students was subjected to misogynoir. This incident was the last straw for Lamy.
“I was pulling one of my students to come out the exhibit, when she said that one of the visitors made a comment towards her when she was dancing to music included in the exhibit,” she wrote. “The visitor said that’s it’s a shame that she is not learning and instead stripping.”
As Lamy walked her class out of the exhibit, she noticed a security guard was following them again. When she confronted him, he “said that he was just doing his job.”
The kids experienced one more instance of racism as they left thanks to a disgruntled museum visitor.
“As we were walking out, our students were standing in the doorway of the Africa exhibit,” Lamy recalled. “We had them clear out the doorway so people could pass by. This lady walks by and says, ‘Never mind there’s fucking black kids in the way.’ And ironically she says this in the African exhibit.”
When Lamy reported her experience, the museum staff “just looked on with pity.”
“They took our names and filed a report,” she continued. “Their only solution, they will give us tickets to come back and have a ‘better’ experience. We did not even receive an apology.”
The students were at the museum to learn more about history but they got a lesson Lamy wasn’t ready to teach.
“The worse part about all of this is seeing the hurt look on my children’s faces as this was their first time experiencing racism first hand,” she said. “It’s sad that although our students are well behaved and our teachers are well educated, that we are still seen as less than and as criminals.”
Lamy’s post has been shared over 1200 times and the museum finally apologized on Wednesday, reports The Boston Herald.
“We want to apologize specifically to the students, faculty, and parents of the Davis Leadership Academy,” the museum leadership wrote in a letter posted on its website.
“We deeply regret any interactions that led to this outcome and are committed to being a place where all people trust that they will feel safe and treated with respect. We look forward to ongoing conversation and commit to using this situation as an opportunity to learn and create a culture of unwavering inclusion.”
The museum claimed they are investigating the accusations in a comment under Lamy’s post.
