3 w. ago Trump will not stop until every American relic reflects his imaginary world view | Kellie Carter Jackson

The US president’s attack on the Smithsonian isn’t about truth. It’s about erasure, and ‘erasure is violence’Last week, Donald Trump issued another executive order, this one aimed directly at the Smithsonian Institution, and called for “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”. He contended that the Smithsonian had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” and that it advocates “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive”. Specifically, the order targeted American history and art that focused on stories of race and racism.Being responsible for the distillation of the nation’s narrative is no small thing. The Smithsonian oversees 21 museums, libraries, research centers and the National zoo. Every year millions of people visit various sites that are free to the public. The collection of museums represents the pinnacle of public history and the story America tells the world about itself. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago As Trump rewrites even America’s history, institutions have two choices – submit or find ways to resist | Charlotte Higgins

The Smithsonian’s museums have been ordered to root out ‘divisive narratives’. It’s part of a pattern: the battle lines are now clearIt has come to this: we are now in Ministry of Truth territory. In Washington DC, the Smithsonian Institution, the US’s ensemble of 21 great national museums, last week became the subject of an executive order by President Donald Trump. “Distorted narratives” are to be rooted out. There will be no more of the “corrosive ideology” that has fostered a “sense of national shame”. The institution has, reads the order, “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” that portrays “American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive”. The vice-president, JD Vance, is, by virtue of his office, on the museum’s board. He is charged by Trump to “prohibit expenditure” on programmes that “divide Americans based on race”. He is to remove “improper ideology”. The order is titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”. George Or...

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3 w. ago ‘It reminds you of a fascist state’: Smithsonian Institution braces for Trump rewrite of US history

Normally staid historians sound alarm at authoritarian grasping for control of the premier US museum complexIn a brightly lit gallery, they see the 66m-year-old skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. In a darkened room, they study the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem. In a vast aviation hanger, they behold a space shuttle. And in a discreet corner, they file solemnly past the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman in the US south.Visitors have come in their millions to the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s biggest museum, education and research complex, in Washington for the past 178 years. On Thursday, Donald Trump arrived with his cultural wrecking ball. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago US House to vote on ‘reckless’ $1bn budget cut to Washington DC

Trump and congressional Republicans attempting to exert control over mostly Democratic capital cityWashington DC has found itself in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans in recent weeks, with efforts by both to exert more control over the overwhelmingly Democratic capital city.The president on Thursday signed an executive order he said would make Washington DC “safe, beautiful, and prosperous” by stepping up crime fighting, arrests of undocumented immigrants and the processing of permits to carry concealed weapons. Trump separately directed JD Vance to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, which has many museums in and around the city. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Trump signs order on Washington DC as Republicans exert control over city

President says order will make capital ‘safe, beautiful’ by stepping up arrests of undocumented peopleWashington DC has found itself in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans in recent weeks, with efforts by both to exert more control over the overwhelmingly Democratic capital city.The president on Thursday signed an executive order he said would make Washington DC “safe, beautiful, and prosperous” by stepping up crime fighting, arrests of undocumented immigrants and the processing of permits to carry concealed weapons. Trump separately directed JD Vance to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, which has many museums in and around the city. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Why President Donald Trump now has a problem with the Smithsonian

Trump believes institutions have fallen prey to ‘woke’ ideology

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3 w. ago ‘It’s a scary time’: artists react to White House’s recent targeting of Smithsonian Institution

Roberto Lugo and other artists of color are now feeling heat from Trump’s attack on diversity and efforts to rewrite truth of the US’s pastArtists, academics and politicians have shared their outrage in reaction to the Trump administration’s latest executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum network.Late on Thursday, Trump announced that his administration had ordered a large reshaping of the Smithsonian in an attempt to eliminate what he described as “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology”. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago What is the Smithsonian Institution and why is it important?

A Trump executive order aims to uproot ‘anti-American ideology’ from the US museum and research complexOn Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, a behemoth of a research and museum organization that operates more than 20 museum and research centers and is visited by millions of people each year, mainly in Washington DC and New York City. The museums include the National Museum of African Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which Trump name-checked in his executive order. Trump’s executive order instructs Vice-President JD Vance to “eliminate improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from the Smithsonian’s museums.The Smithsonian has already come under scrutiny by Trump and his allies. Earlier this year, the institution was forced to close its diversity office and froze all federal hiring. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Trump’s executive order forces removal of ‘improper ideology’ at Smithsonian museums to promote ‘American greatness’: Live

President directs JD Vance to rid museums of ‘divisive narratives’ in latest culture war push

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4 w. ago Trump signs executive order threatening to gut Smithsonian Institute funding unless ‘improper ideology’ removed: Live

President directs JD Vance to rid museums of ‘divisive narratives’ in latest culture war push

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4 w. ago Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding for ‘improper ideology’

JD Vance to lead plan as Trump says there’s been ‘concerted’ effort to rewrite US history with ‘distorted narrative’Donald Trump revealed his intentions to reshape the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order on Thursday that targets funding to programs with “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology”.The president said there has been a “concerted and widespread” effort over the past decade to rewrite US history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth”. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding to programs with 'improper ideology'

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on the Smithsonian Institution that targets funding to programs that contain what he calls “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.”

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