N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences Acquires “RACE: Are We So Different?” Exhibit
For immediate release ‐ December 16, 2020
Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request
Raleigh, N.C. – The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is pleased to announce the acquisition of “RACE: Are We So Different?,” an award-winning exhibit that debuted in North Carolina as a feature exhibition at the museum in 2017.
Thanks to the generosity of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the museum was recently able to acquire one of only three editions of the exhibit in the United States, and the only one that will be housed on the east coast.
“RACE” was developed by the American Anthropological Association together with the Science Museum of Minnesota with funding from the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation. “RACE: Are We So Different?” looks at race in the United States first and foremost through a scientific lens, but also through the eyes of history and lived experience. The exhibit explains how human variation differs from race, when and why the idea of race was invented, and how race and racism affect everyday life.
“We are grateful to the American Anthropological Association for making this sought-after exhibit available for North Carolina to purchase, and to the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation for their generous donations that made this acquisition possible,” said Susi H. Hamilton, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “An important part of our mission at DNCR is to ensure that we represent our entire population with the experiences we provide. This exhibit enables us to delve into science-based questions about our similarities as well as our variations, and to come away with a better understanding of ourselves and each other.”
“Everyone has a personal experience of race, and it’s natural to presume that your common-sense understanding is true,” said Akhil Gupta, president of the American Anthropological Association. “But it is very difficult to understand the invisible effects of history, culture, and institutions in shaping our personal experience. One of the things that anthropology does is ‘make the familiar strange,’ getting past your assumptions and showing that things really work in ways that might surprise you. The RACE exhibit won’t answer all of these questions, but it will provide the beginning of a framework to help you think through it.”
In 2017, more than 84,000 visitors experienced this transformative exhibit when it was first hosted by the museum as a temporary exhibition. At a follow-up summit held in 2018, the partners responsible for bringing the exhibit to North Carolina agreed to pursue purchasing the exhibit for permanent display as part of ongoing efforts to continue community engagement on this important and complex topic.
“For our institution and our community, the importance of ‘RACE’ went far deeper than the displays in our galleries,” said Eric Dorfman, NCMNS director and CEO. “Its messages were incorporated into community conversations that asked important social questions, shared cultural competencies, encouraged reflection, and attracted new audiences. Mounting an updated exhibition is more important now than ever.”
During the 2017 RACE exhibition, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund provided support for STEM-related programming around the science of race. Since, then the Fund has been active in leveraging public and private partnerships to secure the exhibit for permanent placement in North Carolina.
“There’s a lack of education and awareness around the history of race as a social construct,” said Alfred Mays, Director and Chief Strategist for Diversity and STEM Education, who was instrumental in the effort. “Having the exhibit permanently in North Carolina along with ongoing programming addresses those gaps and it will be an important resource for educators across the state.”
“North Carolina has a rich civil rights legacy,” added Fund President and CEO Dr. Louis Muglia. “The Fund is proud to support this effort to educate and engage conversations around race and social justice.”
The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation supported the temporary exhibit in 2017 and has been an integral partner in bringing the RACE exhibit permanently to North Carolina.
“The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is thrilled that the ‘RACE: Are We So Different?’ exhibit has been acquired by the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences,” said Maurice “Mo” Green, executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. “The Foundation is pleased that its investments in this exhibit, including when it was a temporary exhibition and now that it will be permanently located in North Carolina, means that many North Carolinians have been and will be able to engage with this interactive exhibit and have an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of race and racism in this country through the lenses of history, science, and personal experiences.”
The exhibit, now 12 years old, will be updated with new technology and North Carolina-specific content before going on display. The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is working with its community and philanthropic partners to make the updated “RACE 2.0” available to as many North Carolina residents as possible, while looking for locations to house the exhibit in future years.