Individuals are able to communicate with the past, present, and the future through museums; they can interact with their long-lived ancestors, connect through deteriorating or flourishing culture, and discover minor and major triumphs as well as sins of the collective. It’s a privilege of the United States to be home to the world’s largest museum and research center: the Smithsonian Institution. Composed of thirty-five different museums and centers, the institution was founded in 1846 to preserve the fundamental aspects of American history and culture, continuously priding itself on a mission to “increase and diff[use] knowledge” for the general public. However, in March of this year, the institution’s mission was fundamentally challenged by the Trump Administration’s drive to uphold “American exceptionalism” in public media.
Over the course of the next year, the Trump Administration plans to extract media from the Smithsonian characterized as “woke” or seemingly harmful to the President’s personal image and his MAGA party platform. Ultimately, the goal is to remove anything that portrays America as anything but a long-standing utopia free of flaw, an ethical example of a successful nation. As of last month, the National Museum of American History has removed its references to President Trump’s two impeachments, under the claim it was “out-of place” with the rest of the exhibit and too outdated for its display. Although the Smithsonian complied, tensions between the Trump administration and Smithsonian staff, notably Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, began to stir public disputes. Trump publicly described Sajet as a “strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position,” arguing the museum held high partisan beliefs through their exhibitions and evoking a continuous conflict that resulted in her resignation.
Institutions including the National Museum of African American History and Culture have been forced to remove around thirty-two artifacts referencing slavery and other objects painting the US in “negative light” after threats of massive federal funding cuts. These, including the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and other Civil Rights related elements, have been primarily targeted due to their symbolism surrounding America’s founding principles of life, liberty, and justice for all. These are the most concerning types of objects to the Administration, whose main priority is to protect nationalistic ideals that these conflict with. By diminishing the full breadth of the Smithsonian’s educational range, the Administration is forcing a disproportionate and skewed view of history on the public, all in the name of national pride. This is a form of censorship and undercuts the ability of the Smithsonian to fully serve our democratic and free society.
However, this isn’t the first time the Smithsonian’s displays have been challenged. In the early 1990s, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum display of the “Enola Gay,” the bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima during the Second World War, was challenged by members of the Air Force Association. Individuals claimed the exhibition painted American forces as destructive and feared visitors would excessively empathize with the Japanese, decreasing American nationalism. The Smithsonian attempted to make gradual changes to their exhibition, starting with broadening the descriptions of the “Enola Gay” for the general public. This included altering the title from “The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II” to “The War in the Pacific” to encompass both sides of history and ultimately justify the nation’s horrific actions while still portraying the truthful side of history, despite its flaws. Although the institution hoped the modifications “would be more sympathetic to the Americans,” the Smithsonian still received public criticism. Within the next month, the exhibition was entirely removed after countless threats of funding cuts.
Today, 62% of the Smithsonian’s funding comes from the federal government, with the rest coming from public donations and corporate revenue. However, due to the accessibility of information on digital platforms and the COVID-19 pandemic’s decrease in turnout rates, museums have been struggling to regain visitors. As a result, the Smithsonian has been more reliant on federal funding to sustain itself. Without funding, the value of museums deteriorates, which is heavily important in itself to maintain physical interaction with historical pieces first-hand. Through museum attendance, individuals are able to partake in personal education experiences that cannot be obtained as authentically behind a screen, divided between human connection and technological adaptation.
Though there have always been individuals and groups who do not agree with museum displays, today’s demands from the Trump Administration to remove Civil Rights artifacts and personal impeachment references are on a scale never encountered. Historians, organizations including the American Historical Association (AHA), and frequent museum-goers all around hold collective concern over the quality of knowledge the public is receiving. These limitations are threatening to the moral standards and political expectations of the general public, as censoring the faults establish these historical and educational institutions as polarized environments, ultimately fueling harmful government practices and swaying the public opinion of future generations. These actions remove museums from their main purpose of “providing a history with the integrity necessary to enable Americans to be all they can possibly be,” argued the AHA and over fifty historian coalitions advocating for the protection of the Smithsonian.
Yet, since March, the Administration has claimed Smithsonian content to be irrelevant to mainstream media and encouraged the institution to instead focus on “instilling pride in the hearts of all Americans.” This directive, however, diminishes the facts of undercovered media and minority voices that are equally important, ultimately restricting hands-on access to proper, reflective education and limiting the extent to which individuals are able to make well-informed political decisions. With the removal of America’s already publicized flaws, which museums have the privilege of sustaining, the general principles of democracy, including equal protection and popular sovereignty, are stripped from the people and future generations; the most reliable, hands-on pieces of information are hidden to prohibit the public from drawing individual connections with America’s history. Together, this harms the Smithsonian’s platform, which has worked for years to ensure the public engages in lessons that remind them of how great change can be made. A fully informed society can better progress and elevate itself through reflections on right and wrong, and the Administration’s censorship is a stark departure from the institution’s mission and a sharp turn towards an authoritative future.
While the institution is forced to comply with the Administration’s extreme sense of “patriotism,” we must try to keep our learning centers free of political interference as much as possible; individuals are slowly being stripped of their ability to utilize their full range of rights and privilege of education to the fullest extent. It is imperative that the Trump Administration, any administration, allow its people the full range and scope, both the triumph and shame, of what came before — as the growth of a nation originates in the stories, voices, and most importantly, facts derived from the common people.
Featured Image Source: AP News