The meaning and value of cultural diversity in America are not topics open to purely objective or theoretical assessment. Nobody enjoys a truly global view and no one can claim to speak from a totally disinterested vantage point. Whites, in particular, must be careful to avoid any such pretense, since in too many cases it means that they are passing judgment on the personal testimony of non-whites without accounting for their own experience or clearly establishing their everyday perspective on the social realities involved. This essay on the role of modern art museums and multiculturalism was, therefore, conceived in two parts. The first speaks briefly but I hope usefully about the situation in which I found myself when the issue came to a head for me professionally. The second deals both first-hand and historically with the aesthetic, political and practical problems entailed in addressing the fact of pluralism in art. The tension between the world in which I lived, as represented in part one, and that in which I worked, as represented in part two, motivated me to write and informs all aspects of what follows.

The meaning and value of cultural diversity in America are not topics open to purely objective or theoretical assessment. Nobody enjoys a truly global view and no one can claim to speak from a totally disinterested vantage point. Whites, in particular, must be careful to avoid any such pretense, since in too many cases it means that they are passing judgment on the personal testimony of non-whites without accounting for their own experience or clearly establishing their everyday perspective on the social realities involved. (from abstract)