Trump Targets Smithsonian Institution
It was just a matter of time before the Trump Administration targeted the venerable Smithsonian Institution. The Executive Order reads as if it was written by ChatGPT in a last minute attempt to distract the nation from the controversy surrounding “SignalGate.”
The Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846. Its historical holdings include over 157 million items located in 21 museums, 21 libraries, 14 education and research centers, a zoo, and historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in Washington, D.C. Additional facilities are located in Maryland, New York, and Virginia. More than 200 Smithsonian-affiliated institutions and museums are spread out over 47 states. With very few exceptions, Smithsonian museums are free of charge. Last year they attracted 30 million visitors.
The order claims: “In the last decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted effort to rewrite American history and force our nation to adopt a factually baseless ideology aimed at diminishing American achievement. President Trump is fighting back by reestablishing truth in the historical narrative and restoring Federal sites dedicated to American heritage.”
It’s incredibly sloppy and does little more than highlight the typical fascist-minded talking points about how our understanding of history must be forced to align with ideas of past greatness.
It is unclear just how this order will be enforced. While the vice president is a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents (defined by law), he’s not chair of the Board, or vice chair, and he’s not on the Board’s executive committee. Structurally he has one vote.
A short list of vague accusations are made, but include no details. The American Art Museum, for example, does indeed currently include an exhibit on the ways in which “sculpture has shaped and reflected attitudes and understandings about race in the United States.”
Even a cursory glance at the history of sculpture in this country corroborates this claim.
In 1908, Confederate veteran Wiley Nash offered the following in his address as part of a statue dedication in Lexington, Mississippi.
Dedication addresses such as this were repeated throughout the region during this time and offered a powerful historical argument for relegating African Americans as second class citizens throughout the Jim Crow era.
As has been the case with the scrubbing of governemnt websites, over the past few weeks, for content that violates the administration’s views on DEI, it is unclear as to the scope of the order. As far as I can tell, the entire National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) would have to be shut down.
You may recall that Trump visited the museum during his first term. At first he requested a private tour, with founding museum director Lonnie Bunch, on Martin Luther King Day that would require the museum to close its doors to the public. Bunch refused to do so. When the tour was scheduled for the following month, Bunch was told that the president “was in a foul mood and that he did not want to see anything ‘difficult.’”
Bunch recalls the tour in his book, A Fool's Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump.
As we descended into via elevator into the History Galleries, I tried to find ways to engage President Trump by explaining that the slave trade was the first global business and how its impact reshaped the world in ways that still resonate today As we continued through the gallery, we approached a section that examined how nations like Portugal, England, and the Netherlands profited immensely from transporting and selling millions of Africans. The president paused in front of the exhibit that discussed the role of the Dutch in the slave trade. As he pondered the label I felt that maybe he was paying attention to the work of the museum. He quickly proved me wrong. As he turned from the display, he said to me, ‘You know, they love me in the Netherlands.’ All I could say was let’s continue walking. (149)
Does anyone seriously believe that this president has any real interest in history or that he could pass even the most rudimentary test in American history?
Please don’t accuse me of injecting politics into this issue. It was President George Bush, who signed bi-partisan legislation that made NMAAHC possible and he spoke eloquently at its dedication in 2016.
President Bush summed up what the museum stands for in this way: “First, it shows our committment to truth. A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws and corrects them.”
It is important to recognize that this Executive Order has nothing to do with engaging seriously questions about how our history should be interpreted at our most popular museums and historic sites. Smithsonian museums, like other institutions, have never been immune from debates and controversies about its exhibits and programs. Such debates are necessary, especially at those located in our nation’s capital and which attract so many people from around the country and world.
In the end, this Executive Order is nothing more than another cowardly attempt to politicize American history and divide Americans even further. It comes from a place of deep fear and a commitment to use history and historical memory to maintain political power.
Don’t fall for it.
I couldn’t sleep last night because of this news. Reading your take on it this morning made me feel better. I’m still alarmed and very angry, but reading your perspective, as always, made a difference for me. Thank you, Kevin.
A letter circulated among the Southern Baptist leaders in November 2024 describing their goal of taking over the Smithsonian and "rewriting American history," replacing Lonnie Bunch with a historian from Hillsdale College. Sobering times, indeed.