Smithsonian Latino museum internship is targeted by conservative legal activist
A group led by conservative Edward Blum, who won the legal case effectively ending affirmative action in college admissions, is suing the director of the yet-to-be-built National Museum of the American Latino over an internship program created to increase the number of Hispanics in museum positions.
A group led by conservative Edward Blum, who won the legal case effectively ending affirmative action in college admissions, is suing the director of the yet-to-be-built National Museum of the American Latino over an internship program created to increase the number of Hispanics in museum positions.
Blum announced the lawsuit filed by the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) in a news release Friday, alleging the program violates the Constitution because it is "not equally open to non-Latinos." The lawsuit names Jorge Zamanillo, the Latino museum's director, and Crosby Kemper, the Smithsonian's director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The lawsuit alleges the 12-week Latino Studies Undergraduate internship, started about a year after Congress approved the Latino museum in 2020 as part of the Smithsonian's network, discriminates because no participant who identifies as non-Latino has been an intern.
“Since the internship started, the Museum has hired two classes of interns: one in 2022 and another in 2023,” the lawsuit states. “In both years, not a single intern identified as Black, Asian, or white. During the same two-year window, at least 25 interns — nearly 90% of participants — self-identified as Latino. No intern identified as non-Latino.”
Congressional legislation designating a site for the National Museum of the American Latino is pending and an opening date has not been set. Exhibits associated with the Latino museum are now displayed in the Molina Family Latino Gallery, part of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
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