The Roald Dahl Museum (United Kingdom) has condemned the “undeniable” racism of the writer and regrets racism “directed at any group or individual” and shares the apology of the Dahl family and Roald Dahl Story Company, made in 2020, for anti-Semitic views on the Jewish people.
“Roald Dahl’s racism is undeniable and indelible, but we hope that the potential of Dahl’s creative legacy to do good will also endure,” the museum said in a statement posted on its website.
The writer’s family has already apologized for the “lasting” and “understandable” damage caused by Dahl’s words. “Such biased comments are incomprehensible to us and stand in stark contrast to the man we met and to the values ??at the heart of Roald Dahl’s stories, which have positively impacted young people for generations. We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his worst, Roald Dahl can help us remember the lasting impact of words,” the family explained.
The Roald Dahl Museum notes that they do not publicly repeat Dahl’s anti-Semitic statements, but keep a record of what he wrote and said in the Museum’s collection “so that it is not forgotten.”
“We are working to be more welcoming to all who wish to visit us in person or online, reflecting the visible diversity of our audiences in our marketing, conducting accessible and inclusive recruitment campaigns for staff or trustee positions, training our people to better understand and welcome everyone, equitably. We are working hard to do better and we know we have more to do”, they have assured.
In this regard, the museum states that, since 2021, they have engaged with various organizations within the Jewish community, including the British Jews Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, the Community Safety Trust and the Anti-Semitism Policy Trust. “This process has included training for our staff and trustees of the Antisemitism Policy Trust,” they stress.
