DEI Toolkit

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warned of the dangers inherent in telling a story from only one perspective. She explained that “the single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” It is vital that New York’s cultural heritage community actively avoid the “danger of the single story.” When one story is the only story, it becomes the definitive story; when that happens in libraries archives and museums, New Yorker’s are deprived of the opportunity of seeing themselves as part of the American story. This is not about eliminating or minimizing any of America’s history; it is simply about ensuring that the contributions of all groups are included in the telling of the American story.    

The intended audience for this document is people who work in or volunteer for cultural heritage and collecting organizations including museums, libraries, archives, genealogical societies, historical societies, and cultural and historic sites.

Throughout this toolkit, report, and reference materials, we refer to “directly impacted people” – Within the scope of "directly impacted people," this document addresses multiple communities that have been intentionally or unintentionally oppressed, both in the past and present. Forms of oppression discussed include discrimination motivated by race or ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

Throughout the course of this project’s research, community engagement, and toolkit development, our team uses the abbreviation “DEI” (diversity/equity/inclusion) to encompass the vast field of study and practice that includes diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism, accessibility, and justice. We continue this abbreviation throughout the toolkit, report, and resources.  

When we talk about DEI, we are really asking who we are as practitioners in the field and who our patrons, visitors and clients are. DEI requires us to dig into our many intersecting identities and grapple with what to highlight, what to push to the background, and how we interact with each other. 

A dominant culture is one that has established its own norms, values, and preferences as the standard for an entire group of people. It’s history is a history with a single story. Often, this story obscures or subjugates histories, stories, and interpretations of communities who claim Indigenous and other identities, identities on the gender, sexual orientation and abilities spectrums, immigration status.   

Libraries, Archives and Museums are not neutral.  Their collections and how they are made available reflect specific institutional goals, cultural norms, political positions, and value systems.   Often, they have been a means for organizations to maintain the norms of structural inequality.  

Nationwide, the keepers of history and culture have begun to address the myth of neutrality. Last year the American Library Association released its Resolution to Condemn White Supremacy and Fascism as Antithetical to Library Work, acknowledging that “libraries have upheld and encouraged white supremacy both actively through discriminatory practices and passively through a misplaced emphasis on neutrality.” Lonnie Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, stated in 2020, “I believe very strongly that museums have a social justice role to play, that museums have an opportunity to not become community centers, but to be at the center of their community, to help the community grapple with the challenges they face, to use history, to use science, to use education, to give the public tools to grapple with this. Museums always take a point of view by what they choose to exhibit and what they decide not to exhibit.”  

“The role of our museums is to tell the stories inherent in our collections and help our audiences understand how they fit into our art, history, and culture. We all need to amplify and strengthen the work of our museums to combat institutional racism, injustice, and violence against people of color.” 

 From Erika Sanger’s solidarity statement on behalf of the Museum Association of New York following the murder of George Floyd  

Throughout our team’s research and toolkit development, stakeholders asked us to address and recommend “best practices.” Our team holds that there is no such thing as “best practice” and instead we have noted promising and emerging practice for the cultural heritage community.

Throughout this document we use the terms, “we” and “us,” and “our team.” “We” and “us” refer to the cultural heritage community and occasionally to the team who worked on and created this report and toolkit. “Our team” refers to the people from the New York State Office of Cultural Education, the New York State Museum, Library and Archives, and the Aria Strategies team- the people who worked on and created this document.

The New York State Office of Cultural Education DEI Toolkit is supported with federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds allocated to the New York State Library by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).