- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2142
Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Photo: roma g – flickr.com (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
President Donald Trump continues to attack African American rights, heritage, and history in his desire to Make America White Again. On 27 March 2025, Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” It accuses the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture of engaging in a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history,” perpetuating division rather than fostering national unity.
The Smithsonian was founded by the largesse of British scientist, James Smithson, to found “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” The Institution holds over 157 million items, making it one of the largest museums in the world.
Trump said changes following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 were brought about by protesters who wanted to “undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.” Trump has asked the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to restore the monuments, statues and memorials in its jurisdiction that have been removed since 2020. These attacks “perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimise the value of certain historical events or figures.” The restored monuments must have no message that will “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” Instead, they will “focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.” So, restoration of statues to Confederate Generals, and no plaques explaining the racist violence any of the commemorated figures might have carried out.
Trump’s order accuses the prior administration of advancing “corrosive ideology.” He has directed the Vice President, J D Vance, himself a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to rid the institution of “improper, divisive, or anti-American” ideology. Its new board members will be aligned with Trump’s vision, focusing on a traditional portrayal of US history.
Civil rights advocates, historians and Black political leaders have attacked Trump’s order, arguing that he targeted the Smithsonian Institution to downplay how racism and Black Americans have shaped the nation’s story. Clarissa Myrick-Harris, history professor at Morehouse College, the Black campus in Atlanta, said this is: “an attempt to deny that the institution of slavery even existed, or that Jim Crow laws and segregation and racial violence against Black communities, Black families, Black individuals even occurred.”
Catalina Gonzalez and Rachel Mayo of the Center for Progressive Reform write: “It is no coincidence that since taking office on Martin Luther King Day, the Trump administration’s most aggressive actions have targeted historically marginalised groups.” It is part of the far-right’s suppression of “the real history of structural racism and Black progress.” The Legal Defense Fund has attacked Trump’s order as advancing pseudo-scientific ideas on race.
