Come again?

Minnesotan Ford W. Bell, a former Democratic candidate for the US Senate, is the new president of the American Association of Museums, replacing Edward H. Able, who retired last years after 20 years at the association. Able earned $249,794 in 2006, so it's a well-paid and important art position!

Bell was interviewed by Nicole Lewis for the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Read that interview here.

One question's answer sort of caught me a little off guard:

What are your priorities?

How can we partner with other organizations around promoting diversity in the field. I'd like to set up a fellowship program with some of the historically black colleges and universities. Also, in 30 to 40 years, when 50 percent of the country is Hispanic, the halls of Congress are not going to look the way they do today. If the people in Congress then have had no experience with museums it's going to be hard to get support. And high on my list is collaborating more closely with other groups, including the Association of Art Museum Directors. We are not competing; if we succeed in strengthening museums, there is plenty of credit to go around.

Surely I am misreading this answer and Bell is not implying that the Congress people of the future, simply because they may be 50% Hispanic/Latino/Latina will have "no experience with museums"?

What does that mean anyway? Visiting a museum? Serving on a museum board?

Why would someone who has been elected to Congress in 2037 or 2047 have less "experience" than someone elected in 2007 simply because they are from a different ethnic group?

Am I misunderstanding Bell's answer? What "museum experience" do current Congress people have anyway that would be different in 30 years because of the ethnic demographic change being predicted?

Or is he saying that currently Hispanics have no "experience" with museums and thus the American Association of Museums needs to start working with Hispanics so that in 30-40 years...?

This gives me a headache. Surely I am misreading this answer in some way. I have sent the American Association of Museums an email asking for a clarification; let's see what response I get.