Donald Trump: The Smithsonian is ‘out of control’ for showing ‘how bad Slavery was’

Everything the Trump administration touches turns to crap, and I know there’s a lot to keep up with (or not), but I’ve been paying attention to this Smithsonian issue. Donald Trump and his merry band of fascists are leaning on the Smithsonian, and the museum has capitulated repeatedly. They already removed all trace of Donald Trump from their impeachment exhibition, and currently, Trump’s people are conducting a “review” of the Smithsonian. Well, it sounds like the review is going poorly. Trump posted this:

President Trump accused the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday of focusing too much on “how bad slavery was” and not enough on the “brightness” of America as his administration conducts a wide-ranging review of the content in its museum exhibits.

“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,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post. “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.”

Mr. Trump made the comments a week after the White House told the Smithsonian that its museums would be required to adjust any content that the administration finds problematic in “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals” within 120 days. Taken together, the administration’s examination and Mr. Trump’s post on Tuesday were the latest example of Mr. Trump trying to impose his will on a cultural institution and minimize the experiences and history of Black people in the United States.

“It’s the epitome of dumbness to criticize the Smithsonian for dealing with the reality of slavery in America,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian. “It’s what led to our Civil War and is a defining aspect of our national history. And the Smithsonian deals in a robust way with what slavery was, but it also deals with human rights and civil rights in equal abundance.”

[From The NY Times]

I’ll speak about the slavery part of Trump’s rant in a moment, but I’d just like to point out that “nothing about the Future” is a bizarre demand for a MUSEUM? Museums are not… science-fiction, with exhibits devoted to looking towards the future. People go to museums to learn about our shared history and to learn about the larger world. Speaking of, “where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was…” Slavery was bad. Every f–king generation needs to learn that slavery was bad. Sitting here in 2025, we feel so removed from America’s history of slavery, but it was so much worse than any museum could ever show. It was a centuries-long crime against humanity, the effects of which still infect and influence our country today. The fact that we’re still talking, today, about what can be shown and taught about slavery shows how important it is to teach people the real American history. I strongly suspect this is another barely-hidden dog whistle about The 1619 Project, critical race theory (remember that?) and MAGA’s latest tantrum, “DEI.”

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.