President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, mandating the removal of what he calls “improper ideology,” is being described as “chilling,” amid warnings of fascism. The order also criticizes the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Women’s History Museum, and the American Art Museum.
Issued Wednesday evening, the “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” order denounces what Trump describes as “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
“Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,” the order reads.
It appears to be an attempt to push back on efforts to examine and dismantle racism, white supremacy, and misogyny.
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“The order,” Reuters reported, “is vague about what the president views as anti-American ideology. But it suggests Trump is seeking to purge elements of what conservatives view as a revisionist history of the United States that places systemic racism at the heart of its narrative.”
It also comes “as the Trump administration presses forward in its war on diversity, equity and inclusion, a widely used label applied to efforts to improve workplace culture and create more opportunities for disadvantaged groups,” NBC News added.
Created by an act of Congress, the Smithsonian is a Washington, D.C. based entity encompassing over 40 museums and libraries, another 14 education and research centers, and a zoo. A quasi-governmental entity, it also has a private endowment. But about two-thirds of its budget comes from the federal government.
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The executive order “marks the Republican president’s latest salvo against cultural pillars of society, such as universities and art, that he considers out of step with conservative sensibilities,” the Associated Press reported. “Trump recently had himself installed as chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with the aim of overhauling programming, including the annual Kennedy Center Honors awards show. The administration also recently forced Columbia University to make a series of policy changes by threatening the Ivy League school with the loss of several hundred million dollars in federal funding.”
Critics are leveling charges of fascism.
“Trump to seize control of Smithsonian,” lamented Dr. Iain MacLaren, an astrophysicist at the University of Glasgow. “Fascism seeks to rewrite history and force its narrative. The trigger? Efforts to tell stories of women and black people.”
“This is horrifying,” wrote U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL). “But it’s also a sign of Trump’s deep and abiding fragility. He’s still the kid from the outer boroughs. Strong people go to museums to learn. Weak people run out at the first sign of something that challenges them.”
“Enslaved people built the Smithsonian,” noted Dr. Allison Wiltz, a Black womanist scholar, writer, and editor. “And yet, Trump doesn’t see Black history as worthy, so he’s ordering our contributions removed. You can tell a lot about someone by how they choose to use their power. All he does is cause harm.”
Veteran journalist Lauren Wolfe declared, “This is unabashed fascism.”
“First Trump removes any reference of diversity from the present — now he’s trying to remove it from our history,” observed U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX). “Let me be PERFECTLY clear— you cannot erase our past and you cannot stop us from fulfilling our future.”
National security, defense, and intelligence investigative reporter Jeff Stein commented, “Trump goes full-on Soviet with intent to scrub Smithsonian museums etc of ‘improper ideology’.”