Museum Releases Findings In Racist Comment Investigation

Children from the Greenwood Cultural Center say they were told they couldn't go down a slide at Leonardo's Children's Museum in Enid because they're black and the slide is for white kids only. Leonardo's released the findings of its investigation Friday.

06/19/2018 Related Story: Controversy Over Kids' Field Trip To Enid Children's Museum

Leonardo's says after interviewing several staff members and looking over other materials, presumably video recordings, they were not able to determine if the worker made the racist comment. The findings aren't going over well at the Greenwood Cultural Center.

Greenwood Cultural Center Executive Director Frances Jordan Rakestraw says she’s disappointed with the results of the internal investigation at Leonardo's Children's Museum after three kids between the age of 7 and 10 claim a worker told two black boys they couldn't go down a slide.  

"I feel really badly for our children. They're not going to forget that and when you talk to the little boy you can see it in his face that he's hurt and he's going to carry that," said Frances.

In a written statement Leonardo's says:

"After an extensive investigation that included interviews with all staff on site that day along with a review of other materials, we have concluded that this alleged comment could not be proven."

"I just think they cleaned it up. They cleaned it up. They made it sound good, but it doesn't change the fact that she told our children that only white children can slide here," said Frances.

The comments on Leonardo's Facebook page have quickly come this week most defending the museum calling it a great place to bring children and that no one has had an experience like this before. Despite the positive comments Greenwood has made it clear they won't be coming back and wish the museum handled this differently.

"I think she should have been terminated I really do," said Frances.

Greenwood Cultural Center is offering an invitation to Leonardo's to visit to show them what they have to offer children in Tulsa.

You can read the complete statement from Leonardo’s below.