WASHINGTON – “Crazy.” “Ignorant.” “Dangerous.” “Wrong.”
Those are just some of the words visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture used this week to describe the idea that museums in the nation’s capital are focusing too much on “how bad slavery was,” as President Donald Trump put it last week.
The Trump administration has accused the Smithsonian Institution, which is nearly 180 years old and consists of 21 federally funded museums, of promoting “improper ideology.” To counter that supposed ideology, the administration has launched a “comprehensive internal review” of the institution to “ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Or, as Trump said in an Aug. 19 Truth Social post, removing alleged “WOKE” exhibits in favor of more “Brightness” and “Success.”
A Trump aide leading that review later echoed the president’s comment, saying she had seen an “overemphasis on slavery” at museums.
