Resistance to convicted felon Trump’s efforts to whitewashing our nation’s history

Resistance to convicted felon Trump’s efforts to whitewashing our nation’s history

Trump’s efforts to whitewash slavery in our nations history faces stiff resistance

By Lynda Carson - August 19, 2025

Earlier today, the white supremacist racist convicted felon President Donald J. Trump attacked the famed Smithsonian Institution and other museums all across the nation by posting the following despicable statement on his Truth Social website.

“The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of “WOKE.” 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. We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made. 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.”


For more, see a Democracy Now story, called, “Whitewashing of History”: Harvard Historian on Trump’s Targeting of School Curricula, Smithsonian

STORY AUGUST 18, 2025

The White House has called for a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions in order to ensure they align with President Trump’s interpretation of U.S. history. “The idea that the Smithsonian — which was created as an independent entity — should reflect any administration’s vision of history, and not the vision of the historians and the researchers and the other people who devote their lives to studying these things, is more than problematic,” says Annette Gordon-Reed, professor of history at Harvard University, president of the Organization of American Historians and an award-winning author.

The Trump administration and the Department of Education are also currently partnering with PragerU, a controversial conservative media company, to make educational materials. “This is a whitewashing of history under the guise of making white children feel better about themselves,” says Gordon-Reed. PragerU content has already been approved for use in public schools in 10 states across the country.

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/18/smithsonian_american_history

That’s right, since getting back into office last January, among other things, the white supremacist convicted felon President Trump has been very busy working with PragerU to brainwash our nation’s children in elementary school with fascist right-wing propaganda teaching the elementary school students that “being a slave, is better than being killed, in an effort to whitewash our nation’s brutal racist history, especially history involving slavery.

The convicted felon President Trump is an established white supremacist who supported the violent Unite the Right Rally in 2017 that KKK Klansman David Duke was at in Charlottesville, where Heather Heyer was killed after James Fields ran her over with his car, while injuring 35 others. Marchers at the rally included white supremacists, members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and far-right militias.

Trump attacks the Smithsonian Institution and museums across the nation.

In todays Google News Headlines some of the headlines read, “CNN -Trump escalates attacks against Smithsonian museums, says there’s too much focus on ‘how bad slavery was’, NPR - Trump expands 'woke' criticism from Smithsonian to other museums, ABC News - Trump says Smithsonian should portray America's 'Brightness,' not 'how bad Slavery was’, Reuters - Trump escalates attacks against the Smithsonian Institution, PBS - Trump amplifies attacks on ‘out of control’ Smithsonian museums for including negative parts of American history, Axios - Trump says he has instructed lawyers to look into "woke" in Smithsonian museums, USA Today - President Trump complains 'woke' Smithsonian is too focused on 'how bad slavery was’, Fox News - Trump calls Smithsonian 'OUT OF CONTROL' and orders sweeping review of all museums and programming, The New York Times - Who’s Involved in Trump’s Overhaul of the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Center and Other Cultural Orgs?, Al Jazeera - Trump says Smithsonian museums only cover ‘how bad Slavery was’ in US, WTOP - Trump escalates attacks against Smithsonian museums, says there’s too much focus on ‘how bad slavery was’, People.com - Trump Says Smithsonian Museums Are 'Out of Control' for Discussing 'How Bad Slavery Was’.


As much as the white supremacist convicted felon President Trump may want to whitewash history and pressure museums into forgetting about how bad slavery was, it is ridiculous and very offensive of him to try to do so.

Slavery Insurance Registry in California:

According to the Slavery Insurance Registry in California, in part it states, “In August 2000 the California legislature found that "Insurance policies from the slavery era have been discovered in the archives of several insurance companies, documenting insurance coverage for slaveholders for damage to or death of their slaves, issued by a predecessor insurance firm. These documents provide the first evidence of ill-gotten profits from slavery, which profits in part capitalized insurers whose successors remain in existence today."

Slave holder names may be found by clicking here, https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/150-other-prog/10-seir/slaveholder-names.cfm .

Slave names may be found by clicking here, https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/150-other-prog/10-seir/slave-names.cfm .

American Slavery, Civil Records, https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/slavery-records-civil.html

Additionally, “In Oakland, CA, an April 12, 2022, memorandum to the mayor and City Council, from Mary Mayberry, Interim Director, Dept. of Workplace and Employment Standards reveals that there are at least 125 corporate institutions that may be subject to Oakland’s slavery disclosure ordinance.

Among the names mentioned in the memorandum they include AETNA LIFE INSURANCE, AMTRAK NATIONAL RAILROAD CORP, BANC OF AMERICA PUBLIC CAPITAL CORP, BANK OF ALAMEDA, BANK OF AMERICA, BANK OF THE WEST, CITIBANK NA, COMERICA BANK, JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, STATE FARM GENERAL INSURANCE, THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, THE MECHANICS BANK, UNION BANK OF CALIFORNIA, UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, and WELLS FARGO BANK.


Convicted felon President Trump’s executive order.

Reportedly, “On March 27, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History", referencing the Smithsonian Institution. The order directed Vice President JD Vance, in his capacity as a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to review Smithsonian content for what it described as "improper, divisive, or anti-American" ideology. As of June 2025, no official actions or institutional changes at the Smithsonian have been publicly announced in response. In July 2025, "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden" exhibit at the National Museum of American History removed a temporary label from 2021 in a section on impeachments addressing the two impeachments of Donald Trump. The Smithsonian told The Washington Post that it was done to harmonize with the rest of the section, which otherwise had not been updated since 2008, and that an updated section would cover all impeachments. A source told The Washington Post that change came as a review implemented in response to pressure from the Trump administration to remove a museum director. As of August 12, 2025, the White House sent a letter to Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian Institution Secretary, ordering a review of all of the Smithsonian's public-facing content, including social media, text in exhibitions, and educational materials, to “assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals”.

In response to Trump’s executive order, in a press release below from the Congressional Black Caucus, it states, “Press Release from the Congressional Black Caucus https://cbc.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2790 .”

Congressional Black Caucus Statement on Trump’s Executive Order on the Smithsonian

Washington, March 28, 2025

Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement:

“Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order that aims to restrict funding for programs within the Smithsonian Institution that the administration is falsely accusing of promoting "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology."

“There is nothing divisive or improper about telling the truth.
We detest this administration’s dedication to whitewashing our nation’s history. Donald Trump’s idea that the National Museum of African American History and Culture is guilty of distorting our nation’s history or painting our "founding principles" in a "negative light” is patently ridiculous.

“It is the Trump Administration that takes to the White House podium on a daily basis to lie and obfuscate the truth. It is the Trump Administration that has broken with a century of tradition in allowing an independently selected press corps to cover the daily activities of the administration. It is the Trump Administration that bans books, words, and phrases that do not fit their narrative. It is the Trump Administration that wants to erase and retell our history.

“Let’s be clear, Black history is American history. Any rhetoric that opposes this notion is not only factually incorrect but blatantly racist. We will not stand for anything aside from the truth.

“President Trump, like any aspirational dictator, wants us to believe what he says and not what we can see with our own two eyes. We do not run from or erase our history simply because we don’t like it. We embrace the history of our country – the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

For more on the resistance to the convicted felon President Trump, see another press release below in opposition to Trump’s attack on the Smithsonian Institution.

STATEMENT on THE WHITE HOUSE REVIEW of THE SMITHSONIAN

August 14, 2025

https://www.oah.org/2025/08/14/statement-on-the-white-house-review-of-the-smithsonian/

“The OAH expresses deep concern and dismay about the unprecedented White House letter from August 12, 2025, to the esteemed historian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, directing an internal review of eight Smithsonian museums in alignment with the administration’s Executive Order 14253 on “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This correspondence and its underlying command represent an unacceptable instance of ongoing executive overreach, striking at the independence of one of our nation’s preeminent historical and cultural institutions.

No president has the legitimate authority to impose such a review. Established by Congress in 1846 as a unique and independent agency, the Smithsonian Institution is not, and has never been, under the authority of the Executive Branch. It is an independent statutory agency, led by the Secretary and governed by a bipartisan Board of Regents as established by law. This legal structure is ignored by the letter, as the stated goals of the review are to “ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.” The White House’s effort to assert control over the Smithsonian’s staff, archives, donors, public-facing content, curatorial processes, exhibition planning, and collection use constitutes an alarming infringement on the autonomy and integrity of this 179-year old distinguished institution. Moreover, it asks the hundreds of professionals who work at the Smithsonian to violate their ethics and their dedication to free and open historical inquiry.

The effort as outlined is divorced from the realities of an evidence-based, comprehensive telling of the U.S. past, and is part of an aggressive push to flatten American history into a narrowly conceived, unrepresentative, and simplified story. Historians, scholars, or subject-area experts will not be conducting this mandated review—and certainly not those whose exhaustive research, reviews, and consultations preceded the public staging of exhibits—but rather it will be undertaken by presidential appointees aligned with a specific political agenda. This is exactly what the architects of Smithsonian independence sought to avoid. The end result of this process will be the opposite of a fulsome presentation of the history of the United States that reflects the Smithsonian’s mission for “the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Instead, the review and the method used to compel it, will undoubtedly be in service of authoritarian control over the national narrative, collective memory, and national collections.

It is particularly distressing to see this effort of historical censorship and sanitizing tied to the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding—what should be a moment for thoughtful reflection about and celebration of the American experiment with all its tragedies and triumphs. Together, these moves threaten to weaponize our shared past to serve political imperatives of the present and an imagined future. They politicize the artifacts, recorded stories, and historical experiences that belong to the American people and that help to bring a full, unvarnished picture of our democracy into public view not for indoctrination, but for education.

Across numerous surveys, a majority of Americans consistently say they want a full, honest, and unvarnished presentation of our nation’s history. This White House enterprise, therefore, is an affront to individuals across a wide spectrum of the American public who treasure their right to learn and think for themselves. For decades, the Smithsonian has been among the most visible and trusted interpreters of American history, reaching millions of national and international visitors annually and playing a critical role in public historical literacy. The Smithsonian museums are essential civic spaces where visitors engage with complexity, wrestle with contradiction, and learn that knowing and confronting the past is necessary for a democratic future.

In March 2025, OAH issued a statement condemning the Executive Order on “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” and the order’s grave misrepresentation of historical work and assault on scholarly integrity. Today, we reiterate that condemnation and the bedrock premise that when knowledge is distorted or suppressed, democracy is weakened. We call on all historians, curators, designers, and artists—and all who appreciate and love the search for our past—to resist and condemn, in whatever ways they can, this White House effort to control the American imagination.”

Additionally, below is another press release in resistance to the convicted felon President Trump.

AAM Statement on the Growing Threats of Censorship Against U.S. Museums
CATEGORY:

PRESS RELEASE
Posted on Aug 15, 2025

Press Contact:
Natanya Khashan
media [at] aam-us.org

https://www.aam-us.org/2025/08/15/aam-statement-on-the-growing-threats-of-censorship-against-u-s-museums/

American Alliance of Museums

For Immediate Release

Arlington, VA–Today, the American Alliance of Museums, the only organization representing the entire scope of the museum field, issued a statement in response to the growing threats of censorship against U.S. museums:

Our country’s 22,000 museums are cornerstones of their communities and are among the most trusted institutions in American life. They tell our nation’s stories from multiple perspectives, welcome people of all ages and backgrounds, contribute billions to the U.S. economy each year, serve communities both rural and urban, and protect the heritage we all share.

In recent months, museums have faced increasing external pressures to modify, remove, or limit exhibitions and programs. People trust museums because they rely on independent scholarship and research, uphold high professional standards, and embrace open inquiry. When any directive dictates what should or should not be displayed, it risks narrowing the public’s window into evidence, ideas, and a full range of perspectives.

This is not just a concern for select institutions. These pressures can create a chilling effect across the entire museum sector. Freedom of thought and expression are foundational American values, and museums uphold them by creating spaces where people can engage with history, science, art, and culture in ways that are honest, fact-based, and thought-provoking.

We stand with the hundreds of thousands of museum professionals in the U.S. who protect our heritage, conserve species, create unforgettable experiences, and serve their communities with integrity. We call on all who value our shared heritage to support the museum field in resisting censorship, so museums can continue to educate, connect, and inspire.

America needs museums and the professionals who steward them. They educate, connect, and help us understand one another—something we can’t afford to lose.

About the American Alliance of Museums

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) is the only organization representing the entire museum field, from art and history museums to science centers and zoos. Since 1906, we have been championing museums through advocacy and providing museum professionals with the resources, knowledge, inspiration, and connections they need to move the field forward.
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Reportedly, “Museums across the United States have long served as pillars of culture, education, and community. These trusted institutions now face unprecedented threats from executive actions that jeopardize their ability to serve the American public. The very foundation of our nation’s cultural heritage is at risk, threatening not only the institutions themselves but also the communities that rely on them.”

Lynda Carson may be reached at newzland2 [at] gmail.com

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