President Donald Trump is fiercely challenging the Smithsonian exhibits showcasing slavery in America and the country’s darkest moments in history, an immense deviation from the admiration and appreciation he shared for those displays during his first presidential term.
“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial.
Trump confirmed that he will be having attorneys review the Smithsonian’s museums to determine their level of U.S. patriotism, and pointed to a similar process his administration mandated to crack down on DEI initiatives at some of the nation’s top colleges and universities.
“We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made,” Trump added. “This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE. We have the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our Museums.”
According to ABC News, the White House had already planned to conduct a comprehensive review of eight of the Smithsonian’s museums, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary.
The Trump administration sent a letter to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch, explaining that the purpose of the review was to ensure that the museums “reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story.”
Now, Trump is underscoring an urgent need to survey the museums with fresh criticisms pointing to specific exhibits about chattel slavery and periods of American history that don’t paint the country in a positive light.
The impassioned sentiments the president shared on TruthSocial are poles apart from the remarks he delivered in February 2017 after he toured the NMAAHC in D.C., which is the Smithsonian’s 19th facility.
Shortly after his tour, he said he wanted to return to do an even more in-depth walkthrough, calling the museum “incredible,” and adding that his tour was a “meaningful reminder” of the significance of the fight against racial injustice.
In an official White House statement about the museum, Trump said the facility is a “shining example of African Americans’ incredible contributions” to U.S. culture and history.
He also said that the museum showcases the “great struggle for freedom and equality that prevailed against the sins of slavery, and the injustice of discrimination.”
Great Job Yasmeen F. & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
