center of gravity on the Mall" and created "energy along 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW that feels new, and welcome". Generally effusive in his praise, Kennicott found the museum to have an "allusive and mediated" feel, as opposed to the traditional "magisterial and transparent" aesthetic of most museums. He singled out the way the corona cast shadows in the interior, the dramatic way the corona framed nearby monuments and memorials, and the museum's art gallery. Kennicott was unhappy with "the jumble of elevations throughout the history galleries". The problem particularly affected the Contemplative Court (where corrosion was also affecting the ceiling less than a year later). Museum designers correctly concluded that the cramped entrance to the underground galleries would create a powerful and negative emotional reaction, he said, but the side-effect has been to create a "fundamental flaw" in the museum by creating a terrific bottleneck in visitor traffic. A 2018 exhibition review in the Chicago Tribune noted the museum is practically — and unexpectedly to the museum's planners — "one of the toughest tickets to get in American culture" and posited that this was "proof that the nation wanted desperately to grapple with some of the thorniest questions about the people it brought here by force". Controversies In mid-July 2020, the museum removed a controversial chart from their website titled "Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness & White Culture in the United States" that had been put up on March 31. Some examples that were claimed to be part of white culture were objectivity; rational, linear thinking; emphasis on the scientific method; hard work being the key to success; delayed gratification; the nuclear family; self-reliance; and being polite. After criticism, museum officials apologized and removed the chart, explaining that it did not contribute to the discussion as planned. See also List of museums focused on African Americans References Notes Citations Bibliography External links National Museum of African American History and Culture National Museum of African American History and Culture from the Smithsonian Institution Archives C-SPAN Q&A interview with NMAAHC Director Lonnie Bunch, August 6, 2006 Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture at Google Cultural Institute Museums established in 2003 African American History and Culture African-American museums in Washington, D.C. African American History and Culture 2003 establishments in Washington, D.C. Civil rights movement museums Black studies organizations David Adjaye buildings Slave cabins and quarters in the United