The UK’s Roald Dahl museum has acknowledged the author’s “undeniable” and “indelible” racism in a new statement published on its website.
The museum in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire said it “condemns all racism directed at any group or individual” and that it is working on being “more welcoming to all who might wish to visit in person or online”.
“Roald Dahl’s racism is undeniable and indelible but what we hope can also endure is the potential of Dahl’s creative legacy to do some good,” the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre added.
“We do not repeat Dahl’s antisemitic statements publicly, but we do keep a record of what he wrote and said in the museum’s collection, so it is not forgotten,” the museum explained.
In the statement, the museum said it supports the apology made in 2020 by the Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company “for Dahl’s antisemitic views about Jewish people”.
The apology related to comments made by the author in interviews in 1983 and 1990. Since 2021, the museum has worked with several organisations within the Jewish community, it said.
These include the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, the Community Security Trust, and the Antisemitism Policy Trust.
“We are working hard to do better”
A spokesperson for Antisemitism Policy Trust said (via BBC): “We welcome this action from the museum and are pleased that it intends to pursue anti-racism education.
“We trained staff and trustees, working closely with the museum leadership, and have enjoyed positive and constructive conversations.”
The museum said: “We want to keep listening and talking to explore how our organisation might make further contributions towards combatting hate and prejudice, supporting the work of experts already working in this area, including those from the Jewish community.
“We are working hard to do better and know we have more to do.”
