Trump criticizes Smithsonian portrayal of slavery amid call for review
By: Jalke Thomas - Yahoo (Yahoo News)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Aug. 19 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump stepped up his criticisms of the Smithsonian on Tuesday, deriding the museums for its negative portrayal of slavery in American history.
Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform that he would direct his attorneys to "review" the Smithsonian in the same way his administration has sought to reshape colleges and universities. The post comes a week after the White House announced it was subjecting the influential museum consortium to an unprecedented examination of its materials, signaling it had become a focal point in Trump's efforts to transform cultural institutions.
In his post, Trump wrote that museums all over the country are 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," Trump wrote.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., reacted with a post on X, writing that if "Trump thinks slavery wasn't bad, he clearly needs to spend more time in a museum."
Roughly 17 million people visited one of the Smithsonian's 21 museums and galleries last year.
Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, who is the first African American to lead the institution and has held the position since 2019, has previously commented on the importance of acknowledging slavery's impact on American history.
"I believe strongly that you cannot understand America without understanding slavery, that our notions of freedom, our notions of liberty are juxtaposed with our notions of enslavement," he said in an interview on Face the Nation in 2021. "And so I think that it's not about pointing blame, it's not about remembering difficult moments just to hurt."
Last week, three White House aides wrote to Bunch in a letter notifying him the museum would be subject to a review 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 reshaping of the Smithsonian and its galleries and museums has been part the Trump administration's goal to remove left-leaning ideology from the federal government and cultural institutions.
In March, Trump signed an executive order directing the Smithsonian to eliminate "divisive" and "anti-American ideology" from its museums, pointing to exhibits that "promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive."
He also named himself chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, seemingly in opposition to its having hosted performances he disagreed with for promoting so-called woke ideology. The move prompted many performances and performers to cancel shows.
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The right wing comatose forces have been promoting the propaganda that slavery was not so bad and was, in fact, good.
So-called "Praeger U", a right wing propaganda mill which has been elevated by the Trump administration through a new partnership with the Dept. of Education, recently promoted a children's video falsely claiming that abolitionist Frederick Douglass stated slavery was a "compromise" between the Founding Father and the Southern Colonies for the "benefit" of the U.S.
The regressive state of Florida adopted new teaching standards in 2023 requiring students to be taught that slaves benefited from slavery because it taught them useful skills.
Lets be honest, in his truth social post Trump was saying that "how bad slavery was" is emphasized too much in American history.
Maybe because he doesn't believe it was so bad.
meh, this is what happens when you don't execute all the traitorous scum at the end of civil wars ...
There were thousands. Other than a few who were executed for spying, I don't know if anyone else was executed after the Civil War ended.
I'm flexible, we could've made them eunuchs or maimed them ...
We didn't hang all the Nazis after WWII, either....tho we should have tried harder. And the Brits should have tried harder. We should have let the Jews handle it.
Now, now,. . . the better Citizens of the country at the time thought 'better' to not put their warring and losing fellow citizens in bonds of slavery. . . and look where it landed this nation. . . we have been on a strident, halting, rollercoaster ride every since! Looking back, it would have been better to defeat them and enslave their sorry 'some' conservative butts!
Just desserts would have meant: Enslaving 'the masters' in the South (and their families). To be clear, I said, "just desserts" - not just punishment. After one of two years under the 'stresses' of trying to please 'doggish' owners they may develop a true appreciation for what it means to be left truly alone to live, be free, and prosper!
Remind me never to piss you off friend.
you're safe, especially if you happen to have a backhoe and a barn. I'm looking for a partner in the maga vehicle used parts recycling business I might be starting up soon ...
IIRC Werner von Braun was a scientist who designed German rockets. But when he was captured he was treated well, and brought to the U.S.
Why? Because we wanted to use his scientific knowledge!
And we actually let some of the Japanese who worked at Unit 731 go free-- some even got to enter the U,S,!
Unit 731 was responsible for large-scale biological and chemical warfare research, as well as lethal human experimentation. The facility was led by General Shirō Ishii and received strong support from the Japanese military.
Its activities included infecting prisoners with deadly diseases, conducting vivisection, performing organ harvesting, testing hypobaric chambers, amputating limbs, and exposing victims to chemical agents and explosives.
Prisoners—often referred to as “logs” by the staff—were mainly Chinese civilians, but also included Russians, Koreans, and others, including children and pregnant women. No documented survivors are known.
Buzz: that link is to an article in Wikipedia-- I know you can't access that site. However if you use your search engine and search for "Japanese Unit 731" I'm sure you can find the information.
he's one of the jewish "friends" that most of maga claim they have, along with mark levin ...
You all can see the duplicity involved, because it is out on the surface and in 'yo' faces! Still, I wonder what it will take to stir the 'beast' that is the American citizenry to action against "all foes domestic"! How much more of this can the country take, before the 'feather' lands that breaks out in utter, complete, and thunderous OUTRAGE?! I keep looking for it. . . it has not 'arrived' yet. Though, this man is coming for every liberal idea in the country. . . one idea at a time.
Linda McMahon and the word education should not be used in the same sentence. None of Trumps nominations are anywhere near being qualified for their positions. Seems Trump intentionally picked folk who would run this country into the ground.
... being a loyal dipshit is the only requirement for a job in his administration.
I hear the Heritage Foundation wants to replace the JFK exhibit with one commemorating Lee Harvey Oswald as a pioneer in the war against woke liberal ideology. (<- Satire )
"... working off the cost of first class passage from africa to the US, and their kids/grandkids/etc paying a lifelong fee for the privilege of being born in the US isn't slavery, it's just good business ..." /s
that made me giggle
Who's going to tell him?
Thankfully we have political comedians such as Colbert, Stewart and Lydic. Smart folk making fun of him are the only people Trumpy is afraid of.
“These are, clearly, very strong words, and it's important to be careful with language, because if you use it too loosely, it loses its meaning.”
Ooops, too late.
And of course there are some people who never actually knew what the meaning of those words was in the first place!
They have to rationalize it some how
Racists are often uncomfortable about shining a light on racism.
[✘]
Why is Trump complaining about a museum of black history that says "how bad slavery was" ? Tell us in a paragraph or so.
cockroaches run from light, too
Lol it's wasn't slavery it was simply a lifelong, multigenerational unpaid internship
... learning the 2nd class citizen trade. /s
And wholesale theft of ideas and deficit of morality by people who thought (then and now) that they were good people. They were NOT good people then, not "gentlemen and ladies" then and damn sure are not good people now. And if they think for one second that we are fooled by their wholesale lies and subterfuge—they are transparent "all day" to us.
I have to laugh at those who are criitical of the Chinese government that also support Trump. Talk about hypocrisy!!!
So let's ask the obvious question: America, as a nation, do you really want to go back to the period of the Antebellum South when racist citizens argued for the "positives" of slavery and southern 'enslavement' culture and societal norms?!
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You know I can't touch that!
so mc hammer it then ...
"Can't touch this!"
Obvious question? So I'll give you the obvious answer-- some do. some don't.
Which "some" want to go back to the Antebellum South, in your opinion- Krishna?
I can't tell you-- its a secret!