STL Arch So White

Or, When Politicians Accidentally Tell the Truth

Dignitaries— all White — cut a ribbon to re-open the new Gateway Arch Museum and Visitor Center (July 3, 2018). Some pictured: Missouri Governor Mike Parson, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, St. Louis County Chief Executive Steven Stenger, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Source: Mayor Lyda Krewson’s Twitter feed.

All morning I’ve been reading social media posts about a photo from yesterday’s opening of the revamped St. Louis’ Gateway Arch Museum and Visitor Center— a photo suggesting that only White politicians and dignitaries were invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.