WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – President Donald Trump’s executive order that could reshape the way the Smithsonian Institution portrays history.
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian’s funding, saying it needs to “restore truth and sanity to American History.”
The White House claims over the past decade Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite the nation’s history. Trump wants the Smithsonian to celebrate a quote “unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights and human happiness.”
This latest executive order breaks with 175 years of tradition in which the Smithsonian has largely operated independently. More than 60% of its annual budget of more than $1 billion comes from federal funding.
Trump specifically called the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He called it a gem during his first term. He now says it’s working to rewrite the nation’s history.
Mike Prince was visiting Washington Saturday from Nazareth, Pa. He said it’s important we learn our nation’s history, but we can’t only focus on the mistakes of the past.
“We can’t dwell and make the past a primary element of our thinking. We have to move forward. Me, none of my immediate family, family several generations back. We never owned slaves. We never killed Indians. We can’t make the past a focal point,” he said.
Despite not wanting to dwell on the past, Prince does believe there is a place for preserving the country’s history.
“You have a wonderful museum system here. That’s the kind of thing we need, something that shows the whole gambit. Not just the bad. The number one focus should be education. Educated people are less prejudice. A lot of prejudice in this country stems from how they were brought up,” he said.
On social media, Black leaders are speaking out. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), the former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, posted a series of messages on X in response to the executive order.
“Presidents are elected to run our government – not rewrite our history. Programs that memorialize painful truths help ensure past wrongs are never revived to harm again,” Horsford said in part.
In another series of X posts, NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the order “blatantly unconstitutional.”
Vice President JD Vance will now review all the programs to take out what he considers racial divisions in history.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will be looking at monuments created since Jan. 2020. He has the authority to get rid of any he feels create a false reconstruction of American History.
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