Until Monday, the American Museum of Natural History was one of the world’s foremost educational institutions.
But that reputation took a big hit with the museum’s cancellation of an event recognizing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Hosted by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, the previously reserved event will now take place at another venue.
So, what’s going on here?
Well, museum officials have spent the past few days offering increasingly pathetic tweets. These messages have included statements of being “deeply concerned” about Bolsonaro’s attendance and his administration’s “stated policy aims.” And in response to those tweeting their own concerns, the officials added, we “share your distress.” The tweets culminated on Monday with a proud declaration that the Bolsonaro event is no longer happening.
Thus dies the reputation of a great museum.
Because if a museum that facilitates many private parties is unable to facilitate one involving a democratically elected leader and close American partner, well, it is a very troubled museum.
Don’t get me wrong, Bolsonaro’s statements on women, homosexuals, and minorities have been morally putrid at times. These statements deserve condemnation. But Bolsonaro, like all leaders, is the sum of more than some of his words. Elected on a platform to rid Brazil of endemic corruption and crime, and to build up an economy that destroys poverty in favor of opportunity, most of Bolsonaro’s “stated policy aims” are moral and necessary. Failing to recognize this, the museum’s leadership need to spend more time walking around other museums, and reading more news and history.
It’s not just Bolsonaro and the question of what constitutes an acceptable private event that matters here. It’s the opportunity cost of this decision. After all, considering the museum’s great reputation until now, we can confidently surmise that renting event space there costs tens of thousands of dollars. In turn, revenue from the Bolsonaro event could have gone a good way to supporting the museum’s exhibits and education programs. But now it is gone, sacrificed at the altar of the snowflakes.
The museum’s three listed corporate partners; Bloomberg, Edison, Goldman Sachs should reconsider their support for it. At least under its current leadership, the American Museum of Natural History has shown it cares more about misguided political correctness than that which is supposed to define it: free speech and education.
