Nice White Ladies Get Their Comeuppance

[Trausti]

The Art Institute of Chicago fires all 122 of its (unpaid and volunteer) docents because they aren’t sufficiently “diverse

The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), one of the world’s finest art museums, harbors (or rather, harbored) 122 highly skilled docents, 82 active ones and 40 “school group greeters.” All are volunteers and are all unpaid. Their job is to act as guides to the Museum’s collection of 300,000 works, which they explain to both adults and schoolchildren. I’ve seen them in action at the Museum, and they’re terrific.

Despite the lack of remuneration—they do this to be helpful and because they love art—their training to be docents is extremely rigorous. First, they have to have two training sessions per week for eighteen months, and then “five years of continual research and writing to meet the criteria of 13 museum content areas” (quote from the docents’ letter to the Director of the AIC). On top of that, there’s monthly and biweekly training on new exhibits. Then there are the tours themselves, with a docent giving up to two one-hour tours per day for 18 weeks of the year and a minimum of 24 one-hour tours with adults/families. Their average length of service: 15 years. There are other requirements listed by the Docents Council in the ChicagoNow column below (first screenshot).

Many of the volunteers—though not all—are older white women, who have the time and resources to devote so much free labor to the Museum. But the demographics of that group weren’t appealing to the AIC, and so, in late September, the AIC fired all of them, saying they’d be replaced by smaller number of hired volunteers who will be paid $25 an hour. That group will surely meet the envisioned diversity goals.

Meritocracy, diligence, volunteerism are elements of the White supremacist hetero-patriarchy; right? Such elements must be vigorously extirpated to achieve full equity.

 

[bigfield]

Sad times for the old white biddies.

But Jesus, if you want to read a masterclass in absolute wank, just skip right ahead to the response from the chair of the board of trustees.

 

[Politesse]

There is, of course, no actual evidence provided to back up the author's claim that this had anything to do with race.



^ In the article linked in the screed, a trustee discusses the real reason for the change (which has been in the works for twelve years).

 

[TomC]

The Art Institute of Chicago fires all 122 of its (unpaid and volunteer) docents because they aren’t sufficiently “diverse

The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), one of the world’s finest art museums, harbors (or rather, harbored) 122 highly skilled docents, 82 active ones and 40 “school group greeters.” All are volunteers and are all unpaid. Their job is to act as guides to the Museum’s collection of 300,000 works, which they explain to both adults and schoolchildren. I’ve seen them in action at the Museum, and they’re terrific.

Despite the lack of remuneration—they do this to be helpful and because they love art—their training to be docents is extremely rigorous. First, they have to have two training sessions per week for eighteen months, and then “five years of continual research and writing to meet the criteria of 13 museum content areas” (quote from the docents’ letter to the Director of the AIC). On top of that, there’s monthly and biweekly training on new exhibits. Then there are the tours themselves, with a docent giving up to two one-hour tours per day for 18 weeks of the year and a minimum of 24 one-hour tours with adults/families. Their average length of service: 15 years. There are other requirements listed by the Docents Council in the ChicagoNow column below (first screenshot).

Many of the volunteers—though not all—are older white women, who have the time and resources to devote so much free labor to the Museum. But the demographics of that group weren’t appealing to the AIC, and so, in late September, the AIC fired all of them, saying they’d be replaced by smaller number of hired volunteers who will be paid $25 an hour. That group will surely meet the envisioned diversity goals.

Meritocracy, diligence, volunteerism are elements of the White supremacist hetero-patriarchy; right? Such elements must be vigorously extirpated to achieve full equity.

Frankly, [MENTION=2587]Politesse[/MENTION]; version of the story is far more plausible than this one.
I don't really care. The Museum administration can do whatever they want. But I've been on both sides of this. Volunteers can be advantageous, but they can also be difficult. Paid employees cost more, but sometimes they're well worth the money.
Tom

 

[none]

The Art Institute of Chicago fires all 122 of its (unpaid and volunteer) docents because they aren’t sufficiently “diverse

The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), one of the world’s finest art museums, harbors (or rather, harbored) 122 highly skilled docents, 82 active ones and 40 “school group greeters.” All are volunteers and are all unpaid. Their job is to act as guides to the Museum’s collection of 300,000 works, which they explain to both adults and schoolchildren. I’ve seen them in action at the Museum, and they’re terrific.

Despite the lack of remuneration—they do this to be helpful and because they love art—their training to be docents is extremely rigorous. First, they have to have two training sessions per week for eighteen months, and then “five years of continual research and writing to meet the criteria of 13 museum content areas” (quote from the docents’ letter to the Director of the AIC). On top of that, there’s monthly and biweekly training on new exhibits. Then there are the tours themselves, with a docent giving up to two one-hour tours per day for 18 weeks of the year and a minimum of 24 one-hour tours with adults/families. Their average length of service: 15 years. There are other requirements listed by the Docents Council in the ChicagoNow column below (first screenshot).

Many of the volunteers—though not all—are older white women, who have the time and resources to devote so much free labor to the Museum. But the demographics of that group weren’t appealing to the AIC, and so, in late September, the AIC fired all of them, saying they’d be replaced by smaller number of hired volunteers who will be paid $25 an hour. That group will surely meet the envisioned diversity goals.

Meritocracy, diligence, volunteerism are elements of the White supremacist hetero-patriarchy; right? Such elements must be vigorously extirpated to achieve full equity.

As a beige person looking at brown people immortalized in wax wearing a crude piece of leather over thier genitals carrying spears I find the whole need for enlightment.. redundant.

 

[Toni]

It will be interesting when/if this happens to white men.

 

[Politesse]

It will be interesting when/if this happens to white men.

Surely you don't actually believe that every single one of the museum's 122 docents were kindly old white women?

 

[Tigers!]

It will be interesting when/if this happens to white men.

Surely you don't actually believe that every single one of the museum's 122 docents were kindly old white women?

Hardly increases their reputation for diversity if they fire old, young, white, non-white, male, female (mix to your hearts content).
Might have trouble getting volunteers in the future.

 

[Toni]

It will be interesting when/if this happens to white men.

Surely you don't actually believe that every single one of the museum's 122 docents were kindly old white women?

I’m really just responding to the title of the thread. So far I haven’t been able to read much almost everything is behind a paywall. What is available to read here mentions not all docents were elderly white women.

I actually have no problem with paid staff, assuming, of course, that they are compensated appropriately.

But herein lies a conundrum: what can and should retired individuals be able to do to continue to contribute to society? It does tend to be women more than men, given life expectancy, and white people still tend to live longer than non-white people in the US.

At the same time, younger people sometimes struggle to find decent employment. Those with degrees and talents in the arts particularly can have difficulty finding employment that makes use of their knowledge, talents and skills. Working as paid staff seems to be a good use of their time at least for some.

One of the issues that older adults face is loneliness and a lack of purpose. Volunteering seems a good use of talent and knowledge.

Honestly, I’m just thinking here. For a number of years when my children were young, I volunteered in the local schools, sometimes doing work that in our previous state/school system was compensated but was never going to be paid by the new place. It’s a conundrum, to be certain. I saw needs, I volunteered. We really could have used the extra income but there were no paid opportunities to take advantage of. I could have not volunteeered, but the things I (and other parents to, usually women) helped. The biggest differences we’re finding and priorities, with a healthy dollop of politics.

 

[none]

It will be interesting when/if this happens to white men.

Surely you don't actually believe that every single one of the museum's 122 docents were kindly old white women?

I’m really just responding to the title of the thread. So far I haven’t been able to read much almost everything is behind a paywall. What is available to read here mentions not all docents were elderly white women.

I actually have no problem with paid staff, assuming, of course, that they are compensated appropriately.

But herein lies a conundrum: what can and should retired individuals be able to do to continue to contribute to society? It does tend to be women more than men, given life expectancy, and white people still tend to live longer than non-white people in the US.

At the same time, younger people sometimes struggle to find decent employment. Those with degrees and talents in the arts particularly can have difficulty finding employment that makes use of their knowledge, talents and skills. Working as paid staff seems to be a good use of their time at least for some.

One of the issues that older adults face is loneliness and a lack of purpose. Volunteering seems a good use of talent and knowledge.

Honestly, I’m just thinking here. For a number of years when my children were young, I volunteered in the local schools, sometimes doing work that in our previous state/school system was compensated but was never going to be paid by the new place. It’s a conundrum, to be certain. I saw needs, I volunteered. We really could have used the extra income but there were no paid opportunities to take advantage of. I could have not volunteeered, but the things I (and other parents to, usually women) helped. The biggest differences we’re finding and priorities, with a healthy dollop of politics.

Given your polished politics justice was served.

 

[Arctish]

First: volunteers cannot be fired because they weren't hired.

Second: I'm a volunteer docent at a museum. The disruptions caused by COVID-19 are ongoing. Museums everywhere are grappling with the issues of social distancing, mask mandates, and sanitizing surfaces. Some can be flexible with their space and some can't.

The fact that the Art Institute of Chicago is instituting changes to its school group greeters program is utterly unsurprising. We just started the guided tours for schoolkids again after a year long hiatus and we might have to cancel them for the rest of the 2021-2022 school year. Volunteers can't always be there for regular shifts, school tours can't always get bus transportation, anyone testing positive for the virus can shut down the tours for weeks, etc.

Third: the move from having lots of volunteers to having a smaller paid staff is a good one. Sure, the volunteers won't have the opportunity to do something they like. But having actual professionals giving guided tours enhances the experience for visitors which is likely to increase public interest in the museum itself. And from what I know of museum docents after having been one and worked with others for more than 8 years, the docents will want that.

And anyway, there's always some kind of Friends of the Museum volunteer organization that would no doubt appreciate their participation if they aren't already members.

 

[Politesse]

It will be interesting when/if this happens to white men.

Surely you don't actually believe that every single one of the museum's 122 docents were kindly old white women?

I’m really just responding to the title of the thread. So far I haven’t been able to read much almost everything is behind a paywall. What is available to read here mentions not all docents were elderly white women.

I actually have no problem with paid staff, assuming, of course, that they are compensated appropriately.

But herein lies a conundrum: what can and should retired individuals be able to do to continue to contribute to society? It does tend to be women more than men, given life expectancy, and white people still tend to live longer than non-white people in the US.

At the same time, younger people sometimes struggle to find decent employment. Those with degrees and talents in the arts particularly can have difficulty finding employment that makes use of their knowledge, talents and skills. Working as paid staff seems to be a good use of their time at least for some.

One of the issues that older adults face is loneliness and a lack of purpose. Volunteering seems a good use of talent and knowledge.

Honestly, I’m just thinking here. For a number of years when my children were young, I volunteered in the local schools, sometimes doing work that in our previous state/school system was compensated but was never going to be paid by the new place. It’s a conundrum, to be certain. I saw needs, I volunteered. We really could have used the extra income but there were no paid opportunities to take advantage of. I could have not volunteeered, but the things I (and other parents to, usually women) helped. The biggest differences we’re finding and priorities, with a healthy dollop of politics.

I'm not taking a position on the issue of paid vs unpaid staff in museums; I'm aware of how complex things are in that particular world, having worked in it myself for a time during my student days. What I do object to is the way rightwing media spin stories out of thin air, which conservative-minded posters then repeat uncritically, not seeming to have actually read anything other than the attention-grabbing headline.

As to the actual situation. No one in this story was fired as such - unless something very strange was going on at this particular museum, volunteer docents generally understand that their service is at need, never guaranteed - and to the extent that the museum shifted its emphasis to paid interns over unpaid docents, there's no evidence this was intended on some sort of attack on white people, or women. It's quite likely most of the paid replacements will be be white women as well given the statistics on who pursues Museum Studies degrees these days, though you are very correct that they will likely be a younger cohort. And to add my own thoughts on the con side of this, it's a massive waste of the expertise of those who have been serving the museum and its collections. Had I a voice on policymaking in this case, I would have offered first right of refusal to existing docents vis-a-vis the new positions, if they were willing to go for them. You'd be surprised how many retired individuals wouldn't mind being paid for their currently unpaid jobs, given the chance. I do know that this can be complicated however, depending on the form that your retirement monies take and the stipulations thereof. I think it would behoove a museum to strike a good balance between paid and volunteer docents. If there's a "sweet spot" of a completely ideal balance I am not in a place to know, though 122 unpaid docents sounds more like exploitation than balance to me, and very likely inefficient relative to the museum's pedagogical goals.

I agree that retired persons are in general poorly treated, and their wisdom and expertise scarcely heeded in our youth-obsessed and materialistic culture. Three consecutive generations raised according to a harshly capitalist ideology that ties wage labor to inherent personal value in parallel relationship makes things even harder, and people who can no longer produce the kind of labor for the market system that they used to often feel depressed, as though not earning a paycheck is tantamount to not earning a right to live. This is a great evil, and I'm glad younger generations are being raised with a less brutal social philosophy when it comes to gig or unpaid work. I think we could, as a society, think of much better ways to not just put the elderly "back to work", but to value them and help them learn how to value themselves whether they are working or not. One of my favorite students a few terms back, before Covid, was an older fellow who was pursuing a degree in sociology at the age of 78. He was well aware that he probably wasn't going to see the end of his planned graduate degree and wouldn't have many opportunities to "use" it even if he did, but he loved the field and 42 years in various branches of city government had given him unique and often profound insight into the interior workings of social institutions. His value to me and to the other students was not quantitative. It was not monetary. It was fundamental, and uniquely his to give. Unfortunately he was never much for e-mail, so I have had no news from him since everything went black on the campus.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'm not a racist, just everything I see involves race!

 

[Politesse]

I'm not a racist, just everything I see involves race!

In fairness, an awful lot of American life revolves around this pernicious, archaic concept.

But if you live in a country that has been governed by a system of formalized white supremacy for four centuries, yet find yourself routinely offended by sensational headlines detailing the supposed ill treatment of whites, and you give not two shits about the plight of anyone else, you should probably wonder whether your priorities might possibly have been hijacked by a vile political engine that doesn't mind telling bald-faced lies to get what it wants.

 

[Toni]

I'm not a racist, just everything I see involves race!

In fairness, an awful lot of American life revolves around this pernicious, archaic concept.

But if you live in a country that has been governed by a system of formalized white supremacy for four centuries, yet find yourself routinely offended by sensational headlines detailing the supposed ill treatment of whites, and you give not two shits about the plight of anyone else, you should probably wonder whether your priorities might possibly have been hijacked by a vile political engine that doesn't mind telling bald-faced lies to get what it wants.

I agree with everything you’ve written. My take is that the story is being published where it is being published ( conservative media) to stir up anger at the image of kindly elderly white women being told to stay home so some not white people can get paid to do their jobs in a way to stir up (more) angst and anger against younger workers, especially if they might not be white.

 

[none]

are their toilets clean now?

 

[TomC]

I'm not a racist, just everything I see involves race!

In fairness, an awful lot of American life revolves around this pernicious, archaic concept.

But if you live in a country that has been governed by a system of formalized white supremacy for four centuries, yet find yourself routinely offended by sensational headlines detailing the supposed ill treatment of whites, and you give not two shits about the plight of anyone else, you should probably wonder whether your priorities might possibly have been hijacked by a vile political engine that doesn't mind telling bald-faced lies to get what it wants.

I agree with everything you’ve written. My take is that the story is being published where it is being published ( conservative media) to stir up anger at the image of kindly elderly white women being told to stay home so some not white people can get paid to do their jobs in a way to stir up (more) angst and anger against younger workers, especially if they might not be white.

I do Not agree with everything that Politesse has written, by a long shot.

But in this particular case, his version of the events is far more plausible than the OP's. Far More.
Tom

 

[TSwizzle]

Meritocracy, diligence, volunteerism are elements of the White supremacist hetero-patriarchy; right? Such elements must be vigorously extirpated to achieve full equity.

Of course;

English Touring Opera (ETO) has dropped half of its orchestral players in a push for diversity. At least 14 musicians have been told they will not be booked for the 2022 ETO tour, many of them long-running members of the orchestra. The ETO has attributed the changes to prioritising “increased diversity in the orchestra,” something that’s in line with “firm guidance of the Arts Council.”

ClassicFM

 

[Trausti]

Meritocracy, diligence, volunteerism are elements of the White supremacist hetero-patriarchy; right? Such elements must be vigorously extirpated to achieve full equity.

Of course;

English Touring Opera (ETO) has dropped half of its orchestral players in a push for diversity. At least 14 musicians have been told they will not be booked for the 2022 ETO tour, many of them long-running members of the orchestra. The ETO has attributed the changes to prioritising “increased diversity in the orchestra,” something that’s in line with “firm guidance of the Arts Council.”

ClassicFM

We're heading to a future (if not a present) racial caste system. A world where competence is scorned. It's gonna be terrible.

 

[Politesse]

The mindset of people who look at this world and conclude that Whites are some sort of discriminated caste, in countries where Whites very visibly hold nearly all the wealth and privileges, will never be quite comprehensible to me.