The facts
The National Museum of the American Latino has been in development for over three decades, with legislation enacted in December 2020 to advance the understanding of Latino culture and its impact on the United States. Jorge Zamanillo, the museum's founding director, discussed the significance of this move, emphasizing the need for representation and the preservation of Latino stories and legacy. He noted that while the initial vision may have included a new construction, the Arts and Industries Building, a 145-year-old landmark, offers a symbolic location at the "corazon of the Mall." Zamanillo highlighted the potential to expand the building's footprint and square footage. He also addressed the challenge of reflecting the diverse Latino diaspora, stating the museum will focus on the shared experiences and impact of Latinos on American history, rather than treating them as a monolith. The museum is currently engaging with communities across the U.S. through its "Making History Tour" to gather input and collect artifacts for future exhibits, with a projected opening within the next decade.
Our take
Thirty years. Three fucking decades of development to reach the stunning, visionary conclusion of putting a museum in a building you already own. The Smithsonian’s idea of a grand gesture is clearing out the cobwebs in their own fucking attic. What a bold statement: Latino history is finally important enough to be stored in a 145-year-old landmark previously used for… what, exactly? Storing spare parts and institutional regret? Founding director Jorge Zamanillo is out here calling this hand-me-down the “corazon of the Mall,” which is the most pathetic euphemism since calling a dumpster a curbside luxury studio. The heart of the Mall is apparently a geriatric building they found behind the couch. Inspiring shit. The big selling point, according to these bureaucratic cunts, is the potential to expand the building’s footprint. Translation: we might knock out a wall or two in the next decade, you know, if we get around to it. The sheer, breathtaking laziness of it all. They’ve turned a national museum into a fucking home renovation show where the budget is whatever’s in the shed and the timeline is “eventually.” Now the museum gets to spend the next ten years on a “Making History Tour,” which is just a fancy way of saying they have to go out and beg for the actual exhibits because they spent all their energy securing a fucking empty room. The whole project is a monument to institutional cowardice - a way to check a diversity box without actually building anything new or spending any real political capital. It’s a storage solution masquerading as progress, a sublet agreement dressed up as a legacy. These pricks want a standing ovation for remembering Latino people exist, and then offering them a dusty corner of a building that was old when Chester A. Arthur was president. It’s not a museum; it’s a fucking afterthought with a press release. A disgraceful, half-assed tribute from an institution that couldn’t give a shit unless it’s free. Eat a bag of dicks, you cheap, self-congratulatory bastards. The bar was underground and you brought a fucking shovel. Pathetic. Don’t open in a decade; just stay closed and save everyone the embarrassment of your fucking token effort.
