In a recent letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged the Supreme Court’s top justice to use his power as a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents to oppose President Donald Trump’s efforts to “whitewash” the country’s history.
The letter took aim at Trump’s March 27 executive order that accuses the Smithsonian Institution — which includes dozens of museums, libraries and architectural landmarks — of pushing “improper ideology.” The order purportedly seeks to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.” In reality, it’s an illiberal, racist attack on the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and on Black history more broadly.
In his letter, Jeffries implored Roberts — one of 17 regents on the Smithsonian's board and chancellor of the Smithsonian — to "continue the storied legacy of the Smithsonian that tells the American story honestly and completely." The New York Democrat also compared Trump's order to tactics used by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany:
History is replete with dangerous efforts to manipulate cultural and historical narratives in order to consolidate power, including during the twentieth-century regimes like those in the Soviet Union and 1930s Germany. That is not America. I strongly urge you to reject the Proclamation targeting the Smithsonian and to uphold the 175-year tradition that has made the Institution the preeminent museum, educational and cultural system in the world.
Trump’s order is essentially part of an Orwellian effort to crack down on teachings conservatives dislike. He made that clear when he specifically targeted an exhibit at the NMAAHC that highlights and dispels racist pseudoscience, decrying the exhibit’s thesis that “race is not a biological reality but a social construct.” This is par for the course for Trump, who has a history of peddling racist pseudoscience.
The order is also part of a broader attempt by Trump to bend museums and libraries — institutions dedicated to ideological exploration and inquisition — to his will. Trump has reportedly taken steps to slash federal funding for local museums and libraries across the country, and I explained earlier this month the disturbing similarities between such a move and steps taken by Nazi Germany to control public discourse.
Read Jeffries' letter in full below:
Given Roberts has arguably been one of Trump’s chief enablers, it’s hard to imagine he will halt Trump’s overreach on this matter. But Jeffries’ letter shows the extent to which liberals — Black liberals, in particular — are deploying unprecedented tactics to stop the president from turning America’s top museums into platforms for his propaganda.
On May 3, the National Council of Negro Women, the nearly century-old group founded by activist Mary McLeod Bethune, is scheduled to hold a day of national “mobilization” against Trump’s attempt to erase Black history and target Black cultural sites.
“Our ancestors have seen racism before,” NCNW's president and CEO, the Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley, said during a recent interview with Black Press USA. “But they haven’t seen this level of foolishness in the White House that is outright anti-law. What we’re seeing now is lawlessness.”