Smithsonian's Latino museum settles with affirmative action foe
Source: Washington Post
Updated March 27, 2024 at 3:50 p.m. EDT | Published March 27, 2024 at 11:52 a.m. EDT
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Latino has promised to make it clear that its undergraduate internship is open to all ethnicities — not only Latino students — after the museum was sued last month by a prominent affirmative action opponent who accused the program of “pro-Latino discrimination.”
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In a settlement agreement filed Tuesday, the Smithsonian agreed to add a statement to its application that the internship is “equally open to students of all races and ethnicities” and that officials “should not give preference or restrict selection based on race or ethnicity.”
Though the application process did not explicitly bar non-Latinos, activist Edward Blum’s American Alliance for Equal Rights alleged in its Feb. 22 lawsuit that all 30 interns since 2022 were Latino. Such results suggest a racial preference, which would violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause, the group alleged.
“Every student who is interested in this area of museum studies should have the opportunity to compete for an internship without their race being a factor,” Blum said in a statement Wednesday. “Corporations, law firms, academia, and cultural institutions must end these kinds of unlawful, racially exclusive programs and policies.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/27/smithsonian-latino-museum-settlement/
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