ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the critical responses to the proposals for new museums at the Smithsonian Institution, particularly since the early 1990s, to highlight the relationship between museum development, racial justice and political ideas of national heritage. It examines the nature of key critiques of culturally specific museums, yet it raises critical questions of national heritage and race in relation to museum developments over time. The chapter shows that national ethnic museum developments offer a distinct lens for tracing complex ideas about race and heritage within the United States. It suggests that debates about the relevance of ethnic museums appear to hinge on differing ideas of the nature of identity itself, as well as expectations of museums themselves as cultural forms. The increasing visibility in the media of a proposed new National Museum of the American Latino that was envisaged as a likely new Smithsonian museum to be sited on or close to the National Mall.
