On
March 27, 2025, the President issued yet
another inane Executive Order, this one a
“Presidential Action” titled, “Restoring Truth
and Sanity to American History.” Given this
President’s aversion to DEI, antipathy toward
Black people, and embrace of American
exceptionalism, this action is not surprising.
It was startling, however, that this
“Presidential Action” singles out just a few
of the twenty-one museums that the Smithsonian
includes, including the National Museum of
African American History and Culture (NAMAHC).
The
“Presidential Action” directs the Vice
President and others to “remove improper
ideology” …and recommend to the President any
actions to fully effectuate such policies. The
executive order also will “prevent expenditure
on exhibits or programs that degrade American
values, divide Americans based on race, or
promote programs or ideologies inconsistent
with federal law.” There is the usual “dig” at
trans people, declaring that the new American
Women’s History Museum “not recognize men as
women”. There’s more! The action would like to
restore monuments that have been removed since
2020. The Presidential Action references “a
false reconstruction of American history,
inappropriately minimize the value of certain
historical events or figures, or include any
other improper ideology.”
What,
exactly, is improper ideology? How is
acknowledging the fact that the South lost the
Civil War “minimizing”? Can we mention the
number of Presidents who were slaveholders or
just downright racist? Can we note that the
White House showing of Birth of a Nation
inflamed racism and condoned it? I am among
the many uncomfortable with this attempt at
whitewashing history, And I am amused that, in
the name of “truth and sanity”, the
Presidential Action will insert lies and
insanity into our history and museums.
The
Museum was dedicated on September 24, 2016,
pursuant to 2003 legislation signed by
President George Bush. The thirteen years
between the time the legislation was passed,
and the museum was dedicated was but the last
stop in the quest for this museum. When Lonnie
Bunch took on the role as Museum Director in
2005, he had “one staff member, no
collections, no funding and no site for a
museum.” Today, the almost 400,000 square foot
museum has attracted more than 12 million
visitors since it opened.
It is criminal for the President
of the United States to issue a Presidential
Action that is replete with lies and
misrepresentations. But isn’t that the way of
the Project 2025 crowd? They want to ban
books, revise curricula, erase the
comprehensive contributions that diverse
populations have made to this country. So,
plaques are being removed from Arlington
National Cemetery, Black and Women’s History
Month Celebrations were canceled, and the
content of some federal training programs has
been changed to erase reality in the name of
“restoring truth and sanity”. Do we mean the
introduction of lies and insanity?
I
fondly remember the dedication ceremony of the
museum. Titled, “Remember. Honor. Commemorate.
Thank. Celebrate.”, the colorful program has
the usual congratulatory letters from
Presidents Obama and Bush, and importantly
Supreme Court Justice John Roberts who is, by
law, the Chancellor of the Smithsonian.
Hundreds (or more) of us gathered behind the
Museum to listen to speeches and music. There
was so much exuberance at that gathering. An
ill-advised “Presidential Action” can’t steal
the energy of the exuberance, an energy that
has drawn millions to the museum, and inspired
its staff to present innovative and
informative exhibits. I get to the museum
whenever I can, sometimes just taking my
laptop to sit somewhere and be inspired. Those
of us who were inspired and joyful on
September 24, 2016, must now be inspired to
fight for the integrity of our museum.
History belongs to she who holds the pen. If
we don’t write our history down, we won’t have
it. Lonnie Bunch and his team gathered
thousands of “Black history items”, including
belongings of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner
Truth. The Museum and its history cannot be
micromanaged or ideology-edited. This
administration wants to click its heels three
times and go back to a time when the world was
a narrow white occasion. Whitewashing history
will be easier said than done. Indeed, these
efforts to attack the Blackstonian and other
Smithsonian institutions will simply encourage
us to use our churches, sororities, and other
institutions to more regularly teach history.
