This weekend, the RMSC reopens an original, reimagined, and trauma-informed display of the exhibit Objectively Racist: How Objects and Images Perpetuate Racism… and What We Can Do to Change It. The exhibit thoughtfully presents the Doug Belton Collection that examines how racist caricatures and imagery perpetuate individual, institutional, and structural racism. The exhibit originally opened in 2018, and after listening to visitor feedback, our Collections and Exhibits staff reimagined the space to uplift more stories of empowerment and amend the physical experience of the viewer.
Doug Belton Sr. is a local Collector who served as a Science Teacher in RCSD for over 30 years. Building on a personal nostalgia of southern imagery after a childhood in Mississippi, he began collecting records and sheet music that reminded him of his youth. He heard speeches by Civil Rights era activists like Stokely Carmichael in the 1960s, and he grew to realize that many of the racist caricatures and themes in his personal collection and that he witnessed in his youth had the very intentional meaning of dehumanizing Black figures. As Mr. Belton’s collection continued to grow, he realized that racist caricature objects are important historical records that can serve as tools for antiracist education. Years later, he used his personal collection to spark conversation with friends and houseguests. The display of Belton’s collection highlights how racist media influences people’s lives and prejudices, and how we can use imagery as an educational tool to promote social equity.
Mr. Belton’s strategies for overcoming racism:
- Learn about history to understand how racist policies and practices have impacted people of color.
- Examine your own biases and consider where they may have originated.
- Engage in tough conversations about race.
- Validate the experiences and feelings of people of color.
- Call out racist “jokes” or statements.
- Find out how your place of employment or school works to expand opportunities for people of color.
- Get out of your comfort zone and connect with people of other racial and cultural backgrounds.
The reimagined space now accounts for visitor feedback to feature more stories of resistance and resilience by highlighting the people who have made change here in Rochester: Frederick Douglass, Howard W. Coles, Isabella and Thomas Dorsey, and more, in order to address and resist harmful stereotypes. The trauma-informed changes include making the visibility and sightline of the exhibit more of a guest choice–content warnings greet visitors before they enter the space, and they have to physically choose to enter the exhibition to clearly view the collection.
It is the RMSC’s responsibility to share truths as they have happened in history, whether good or bad. Though we cannot change the past, we can take steps in the present to create a different future. Through display of primary documents and primary source narratives, we can most effectively listen to the voices and perspectives of our past. Objectively Racist displays images, product packaging, knick-knacks, records, and other household items from the late 1800s through the early 2000s. Visitors will be able to examine and reflect on racist caricature images of minstrel shows, Mammy dolls, Tom figurines, Pickanniny characters, Jezebel & Sapphire images, and how these distorted images connect to real-life harm and violence against African Americans
Racism isn’t just about words spoken, but can be perpetuated by images and attitudes that prop up broader systems and social constructs. Overall, we hope this exhibit encourages visitors to have conversations with friends and family around the issues of race, racism, white supremacy, and how it is perpetuated in society today.
