I'm not sure if this is significant, weird, inappropriate, or long overdue. Maybe all of the above, but the Evansville Courier-Press is reporting that they have hired the first black zoo director in North America.
North America has only black zoo chief in Morris
With his hiring at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden, Amos Morris appears to be the only black director at an accredited North American zoo, officials with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums said Wednesday.
Steve Feldman, spokesman for the association, said while the organization doesn't track the race of directors, it appears Morris is the only black director at any of the more than 200 accredited zoos within the organization.
"But more important than race are Amos' accomplishments," Feldman said, noting he recently was elected to the group's ethics board. "We congratulate him on his new position, and we're sure he's going to do great things at Mesker Park Zoo."
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OK, is this one of the last bastions of white control finally falling because of the historic election of Barack Obama? Probably not, but it really seems odd that this has not happened before. But who knows? Maybe there will be a large number of "firsts" in areas that we have never thought about.
Speaking Wednesday after being introduced as the zoo's next director, Morris said he didn't know if he was the only black zoo director in the country but that "there are not very many African-Americans in the zoo profession as a whole."
I can think of a number of places where we might begin to see breakthroughs...
Head of the Mormon Church
Pope
Hey, dare to dream Kossacks!