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Page 12 The Skanner June 15, 2016 News SC Museum Hopes Race Exhibit Will Foster Conversations Meg Kinnard Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C.— A year ago, a nation stood horriied ater nine Afri- can Americans were de- liberately gunned down during a quiet, evening Bible study at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The massacre sparked anguish and soul-searching that led to steps unimaginable even a decade ago, including the lowering of Confed- erate lags in parts of the South. Now, the ever-passion- ate conversation about race has a new venue: the South Carolina State Museum. An exhibit opens Saturday that aims to tackle and explain the elements that comprise race and racism in the United States, in an efort to help explain diferenc- es and perhaps ind ways to bridge them. “Race: Are We So Dif- ferent?” opens June 4 and runs through September 11. Museum oicials say the 5,000 square-foot exhibition is the irst nationally traveling ex- hibit to tell the stories of race from the biological, cultural and historical points of view. Museum oicials es- timate anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 visitors will tour the exhibit during its run, spending as much as three hours taking in the videos, text panels and interactive materials. The exhibit tackles its topic from a variety of angles, exploring the sci- entiic reasons for difer- AP PHOTO/MEG KINNARD Exhibit tackles the concept of race from a variety of diferent angles In this June 1, 2016, photo, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin takes a irst look at a new exhibit on race at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, S.C. A year after the tragic shootings of nine members of a historic black church in Charleston, oicials hope “Race: Are We So Diferent?” will inspire constructive conversation and opportunities for healing. ent skin tones and using high-tech stations to give users an up-close look at how genes work and make us look diferent from one another. Other areas use his- torical photographs of “whites only” water fountains to depict the Civil Rights Era. One “ ecutive director of the South Carolina State Museum, said that ater the Science Museum of Minnesota approached him in February with a chance to launch the exhibit, the museum stepped into high gear to do in just a few months what typically takes We showed America, we showed the world — even more importantly, we showed ourselves that we’re in this together. It’s not the crisis. It’s how you respond to it exhibit lays out the dis- parities experiences by white and black soldiers returning home from World War II. In another section, visitors can try to match up voices with the speakers’ faces, in an attempt to see if you can “hear” someone’s race. Oicials have tried to bring the exhibit to South Carolina in years past but deemed it too ex- pensive. But a new impe- tus for the project came on June 17, 2015. On that day, authorities say, an armed white man entered the Emanuel AME Church in Charles- ton and gunned down nine blacks during an evening Bible study. The suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, has since been charged in the kill- ings. Authorities have said Roof wanted to start a race war. Pictures of him brandishing photos of the Confederate lag led the state of South Caroli- na to remove it from its Statehouse grounds. A school district in Virgin- ia banned apparel dis- playing Confederate and other symbols in public schools. The Florida Sen- ate voted to remove the Confederate battle lag from the chamber’s oi- cial seal. William Calloway, ex- nearly a year. On Tuesday evenings throughout the summer, the public is invited to come and talk about the exhibit, as well as race is- sues in general. On June 17, the one-year anniver- sary of the Charleston shootings, the museum is opening its doors to anyone wishing to pause and relect on the events of that night and the year since. For Steve Benjamin, the irst Black mayor of South Carolina’s capital city and irst elected in 2010, the exhibit, and the conversations he feels certain it will inspire, will be beneicial for any- one interested in learn- ing more both about what unites and divides us. As he walked through the exhibit a few days before its opening, the mayor said he also sees the historic looding that last fall devastated parts of South Carolina — in- cluding Columbia — as an important illustra- tion of how tragedies can afect people of all races in massive ways. “We showed America, we showed the world — even more importantly, we showed ourselves that we’re in this togeth- er,” Benjamin said. “It’s not the crisis. It’s how you respond to it.”