The Whitney Museum's Vice Chair's comment about gassing migrants sounds worryingly familiar

December 5, 2018: ArtForum is reporting that the "Whitney Museum faces mounting backlash over Vice Chair's ties to tear gas manufacture." Warren B. Kanders, vice board chair of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is also the chairman and CEO of Safariland, the manufacturers of the tear gas that was recently used to gas migrants seeking asylum in the United States. Mr. Kander has released a statement excusing his company from responsibility for the gassing of the migrants, saying that his company's "role as a manufacturer is to ensure the products work, as expected, when needed... [and] not to determine when and how they are employed." (ArtNews)

Nearly 100 Whitney staff members have signed a protest letter which begins:

We are writing to convey our outrage upon learning that Whitney Vice Chairman Warren Kanders’ company, Safariland, is the supplier of the tear gas recently used to attack asylum seekers at the US border, and our frustration and confusion at the Whitney’s decision to remain silent on this matter. We understand this is not new information to leadership or likely to the rest of the Board, but many of us learned of the connection via the Hyperallergic article published November 27, 2018. We also understand the nuanced and vital relationship any nonprofit has to its Board. But we believe that this recently aired knowledge about Mr. Kanders’ business is demonstrative of the systemic injustice at the forefront of the Whitney’s ongoing struggle to attract and retain a diverse staff and audience. And because we feel strongly about this, we believe it is our responsibility to speak to this injustice directly, even as the Whitney has chosen not to. To remain silent is to be complicit...

The full letter and list of signatories appears on the Hyperallergic website.

The ArtForum article notes that Kanders "is listed as a significant contributor to the Whitney’s current Andy Warhol retrospective, Andy Warhol - From A to B and Back Again, which runs until March 31, 2019." The exhibition is curated by Donna De Salvo and sponsored by Calvin Klein, Bank of America, and Delta Airlines, with "generous support" from Neil G. Bluhm, Larry Gagosian, and others.