Wharton Center for Performing ArtsMichigan State University has apologized for a display featured at a gift shop in the Wharton Center for Performing Arts that caused offense due to racial insensitivity, according to Essence. Essence cited a WILX report which noted that the display “showed historical, notable Black figures hanging from a rack that resembled a tree,” supposedly in honor of Black History Month.
MSU spokesperson Emily Gerkin Guerrant said that the display was inappropriate and was taken down following a number of complaints.
In a statement apologizing for the display, Guerrant noted that the Wharton Center has agreed to “provide employees and volunteers with racial bias training that focuses on the impact and understanding of intentional and unintentional racial bias.”
