I spoke to a woman who is head of education in a major national gallery - not one where I work because it always felt too conservative, so I never thought I'd get a job there. It was about a training scheme to encourage people from minority ethnic backgrounds to work in musem and gallery education.
Her response was dismissive. It was actually the response I expected to get from other places and happily didn't...
It was all - we haven't trained the others so why should we train this group? Why should they have special measures, get special attention? It was the usual myth of the level playing field. Just because this place doesn't actively discriminate against one group, they don't see how they effectively discriminate for another by simply replicating the same types of people who work there.
But she did say she was interested in sending out advertisements and press releases to community and minority ethnic press when they have a general employment call and could I give her "my list"? Having spoken to me about them showing some initiative and actually coming down to the gallery to watch the requisite 10 hours, that that shows the type of person, the characteristics they're looking for, the initiative - she then asked me to send her my list of "ethnic" press. I felt like saying that perhaps she should show some of that famous initiative herself but didn't. At the time, I thought it might be good to have them on board.