From now on, a positive presentation of the contributions of women, Native Americans, and blacks to the United States is considered a party And is forbidden.
Last Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which aims to remove what he referred to as “emerging ideology” from cultural and artistic institutions. The order, which was signed in the context of federal funding, specifically targets two major recipients of funds: the Smithsonian Institution, which houses a variety of research centers, museums, and exhibitions—including the Air and Space Museum and the American Art Museum—as well as the monuments and memorials managed by the Department of the Interior.
According to the order, the main mission is to “revitalize major cultural institutions and prevent the spread of partisan ideologies,” while it is alleged that the Smithsonian presents narratives that limit American and Western values, and portray them as malicious and depressing. As part of the order, the president instructs Vice President J.D. Vance – also a member of the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents – to remove from the museums all content deemed “inappropriate” or “divisive” and to work with Congress to prevent funding for exhibitions or programs that divide society by race or ethnicity.
One of the most notable aspects of the order is its focus on the future Museum of American Women’s History, which has yet to be permanently located. The order also states that men should not be recognized as women, a phrase that reflects the administration’s attitude toward transgender women. A recent exhibit at the Museum of American History featured a jersey of a trans athlete, prompting strong reactions from cultural and arts circles.
However, not everyone agrees with the order’s claims. Jim Grossman, director of outreach for the American Historical Association, said, “The Smithsonian is one of the world’s greatest research institutions. The claims made in the order mislead the public and understate the true value of the institution—it’s simply not true.” Grossman noted that the order misrepresents the Smithsonian’s work and fails to take into account the importance of evaluating history in a multidimensional way.
The order also directs the Department of the Interior, which oversees national parks and public lands, to restore signs, statues, and monuments that have been removed or altered in the past five years. These changes stemmed, in part, from the controversies surrounding the Black Lives Matter protests and the redefinition of historical messages within national parks and sites. The order argues that these changes distort American history and diminish the country’s achievements.
However, the Smithsonian, which is not a government agency but a public-private partnership funded in part by federal funds, is governed by a Board of Regents that includes senior figures—the vice president, the chief justice, representatives from the Senate, the House, and civic representatives. Although the order ties future funding to compliance with the order’s terms, it is unclear how much real authority the administration will have over the Board of Regents and administrative changes at the institution.
In response to the order, Smithsonian Academic Secretary Lonnie Bunch sent an email to employees announcing that the institution would continue to follow internal review processes and base its activities on the best academic research, free from political bias. In addition, in response to an earlier executive order from January that prohibited federally funded organizations from running diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, the institution’s Office of Diversity was closed.
The atmosphere in cultural institutions in the United States is now being prolonged by the effects of the order, some of which will lead to changes in exhibitions, historical narratives, and the structure of federal funding in the future. Despite fierce criticism from professionals and academics, the administration continues to argue that this is a necessary step to restore national history and to prevent the spread of divisive narratives, thereby ensuring a unified and authentic Americanness.
Perhaps in Trump's eyes this is about restoring history, but in objective scientific eyes it is about rewriting history, which could affect generations.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
One response
Sanity returns to America for a few years until the progressives return with some act of deceit or another.