Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day (with some added, unrelated unpleasantness that we'll deal with over the next few years)!
It's work remembering that for much of their early history, many US zoos were segregated, with black visitors either being banned outright, or limited to certain days, as in the photo below from the Memphis Zoo in 1959 (on which white visitors would not be allowed, which may have created a false impression that things were equal). It's good that those days are behind us, but the legacy continues, and African Americans continue to be underrepresented in the zoo field. Despite the current political backlash against the concept, many American zoos and aquariums (especially accredited facilities) remain committed to DEAI programs to make their facilities accessible and equitable to all audiences.
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