Latest news with #AmericanArtMuseum
Washington Post
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
An art museum for all Americans
You're reading the Today's Opinions newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox. In today's edition: When Monica Hesse learned of President Donald Trump's executive order to eradicate 'corrosive ideology' at the Smithsonian museums, she planned to pen a full-throated rejection of his decree. You know, something along the lines of 'this order is asinine, this president is terrible, blah blah blah.' But as she wandered through the American Art Museum in search of the exhibition the president takes particular issue with — 'The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture' — it dawned on her that 'what I wanted to share more than anything else wasn't a screed about Donald Trump, but instead what I saw at the museum.' What follows this realization is a beautifully woven ode to some of the artworks that drew her admiration, from 'John Singer Sargent's society ladies, reclined in their finery' to portraits of the Sioux and Cherokees displaced by European settlers to an evocative painting by Hisako Hibi, a Japanese American who was incarcerated in an internment camp before moving to New York. If Trump and his administration ever repeat Monica's museum tour — with open eyes and minds — they might pick up at least one of the lessons she learned from her visit, chief among them that 'the Smithsonian is not filled with hatred toward our busted, struggling, awesome country; it is filled with the deepest love.' From Karen Tumulty's commentary on the billionaire's exorbitant spending on the losing candidate in Tuesday's race. Though Musk went all-out for the conservative Schimel, Karen propounds that the Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder 'might as well have been on the ballot himself.' The liberal candidate's 'easy, double-digit victory' suggested Wisconsin voters' 'revulsion at Musk's premise that democracy is for sale' — and presented a warning sign to Republicans that their sweep of the swing states in November might be much harder to replicate 'when Trump himself is not on the ballot.' Karen resolves that Wisconsin's rejection of vote-buying was 'heartening for democracy' but that the record spending on 'an ostensibly nonpartisan' election spells trouble for the health of impartial courts. Just after 8 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) concluded the longest speech ever delivered on the Senate floor, lasting 25 hours and five minutes. Booker's oratorical marathon denouncing 'the Trump administration's countless abuses of power, misdeeds and catastrophic policy decisions' was a 'powerful act of protest,' writes Perry Bacon. He commends Booker for having a stronger spine (figuratively and literally) than most other congressional Democrats, who have only 'meekly dissented' from the president's actions thus far. Perry adds that this public censure of Trump was particularly inspiriting coming from an 'establishment figure such as Booker' who is 'unusually nonconfrontational' and has historically expressed 'fairly standard center-left policy views on most issues.' Perry hopes that Booker's peers will follow in his footsteps — though they should consider wearing shoe inserts before attempting their own record-breaking speeches. It's a goodbye. It's a haiku. It's … The Bye-Ku. Strength, fortune, pain and Love – these pigment the canvas Of our storied land *** Have your own newsy haiku? Email it to me, along with any questions/comments/ambiguities. See you tomorrow!
Al Jazeera
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Trump orders removal of ‘improper ideology' from top US museums
United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to remove what he describes as 'corrosive' anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. In one of his latest executive orders signed on Thursday, titled 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History', Trump placed Vice President JD Vance in charge of overseeing the changes to 'restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness'. 'The Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,' Trump's executive order states. Exhibits at the American Art Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture were among the Smithsonian institutions singled out in Trump's order for promoting 'narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive'. 'Museums in our Nation's capital should be places where individuals go to learn – not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,' the executive order stated. The Washington, DC-based institution includes 21 individual museums and the National Zoo. Some of the most popular include the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of American History. Vance is a member of the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents. 'It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing,' the order states. The move against the Smithsonian follows a similar one by Trump in February to overhaul programming at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. The president, similarly, appointed himself as chairman to oversee the changes. Since his inauguration in January, Trump has moved to reverse policies supporting 'diversity, equity and inclusion'- better known by the acronym DEI – that became widespread under his predecessor, President Joe Biden. Trump and other Republicans also want to reverse the spread of 'critical race theory', which explores how racism is inherent in US institutions. The theory has gained mainstream acceptance in recent years, particularly on museum and university campuses, following a major racial reckoning set off by the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, a Black American man. Under Trump's executive order, the Smithsonian will be prohibited from hosting or funding exhibits that 'degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconstant with Federal law and policy'. The Women's History Museum, which is still under development, was also banned from hosting exhibits that celebrate trans women. The executive order called for the restoration of 'Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums' – suggesting some parts of the US could see the return of hundreds of Confederate monuments and symbols taken down since 2020.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wes Moore: Trump order over Smithsonian museums is ‘deeply disrespectful'
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said President Trump's order looking to control the 'divisive narratives' at Smithsonian museums and federal sites is 'deeply disrespectful.' Moore joined CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday, where host Dana Bash asked about Trump's recent order, which cites an exhibit at the American Art Museum titled 'Stories of Race and American Sculpture' and references the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 'I just find it deeply disrespectful that their definition of making America great again is actually challenging some of the things that makes America great in the first place,' Moore said. Moore said America is a place that was created by inviting people in from all around the world to be part of its journey. 'And loving your country does not mean lying about its history,' he said. 'Loving your country does not mean dismantling those who have helped to make this country so powerful and make America so unique in world history in the first place.' Trump's executive order claims the Smithsonian Institution, which operates many museums in Washington, has 'come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology' in recent years. 'Museums in our nation's capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,' the order said. It gives Vice President Vance the ability to eliminate content from the museums that do not align with the Trump administration's vision. It will also give Interior Secretary Doug Burgum the power to determine if public monuments, memorials or statues removed during the Biden administration give a 'false construction' of American history. Moore, the first Black governor of Maryland and third Black governor of any state, said history should not be erased, but lifted up and celebrated. He said that him being elected to lead the state of Maryland is not indoctrination, it's history. 'It's a joint collective history and it's one that we should be celebrating, talking about the history of this country, all parts of it, flaws and all because that's what gives America strength and that's what makes us move forward,' Moore said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
30-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Wes Moore: Trump order over Smithsonian museums is ‘deeply disrespectful'
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said President Trump's order looking to control the 'divisive narratives' at Smithsonian museums and federal sites is 'deeply disrespectful.' Moore joined CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday, where host Dana Bash asked about Trump's recent order, which cites an exhibit at the American Art Museum titled 'Stories of Race and American Sculpture' and references the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 'I just find it deeply disrespectful that their definition of making America great again is actually challenging some of the things that makes America great in the first place,' Moore said. Moore said America is a place that was created by inviting people in from all around the world to be part of its journey. 'And loving your country does not mean lying about its history,' he said. 'Loving your country does not mean dismantling those who have helped to make this country so powerful and make America so unique in world history in the first place.' Trump's executive order claims the Smithsonian Institution, which operates many museums in Washington, has 'come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology' in recent years. 'Museums in our nation's capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,' the order said. It gives Vice President Vance the ability to eliminate content from the museums that do not align with the Trump administration's vision. It will also give Interior Secretary Doug Burgum the power to determine if public monuments, memorials or statues removed during the Biden administration give a 'false construction' of American history. Moore, the first Black governor of Maryland and third Black governor of any state, said history should not be erased, but lifted up and celebrated. He said that him being elected to lead the state of Maryland is not indoctrination, it's history. 'It's a joint collective history and it's one that we should be celebrating, talking about the history of this country, all parts of it, flaws and all because that's what gives America strength and that's what makes us move forward,' Moore said.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Trump's embrace of race science makes his Smithsonian EO so much worse
'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,' a frightening executive order from President Donald Trump's White House Thursday takes aim at the Smithsonian and threatens to pull federal funding for content that promotes 'divisive, race-centered ideology.' The threat to museums such as The National Museum of African-American History and Culture is real. But even more sinister is the administration's rejection of race as a 'social construct,' which is nothing short of an expression of a belief in racial purity and white supremacy. One of the things that has Trump angry is 'The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,' an exhibit at the American Art Museum that innovatively positions nearly 100 sculptures alongside statements about scientific racism. That's the discredited belief that there are biologically distinct races of people, with some more superior than others. The exhibition examines how artists and art objects have assisted, reflected or challenged such racist thinking since the 18th century, but Trump, in his executive order expresses disappointment that the show 'promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct.' Holding that race is not a biological reality is not a mere view. It's a fact, and the rejection of that fact is a key component of white supremacist thinking. Trump's executive order claims race-centered ideologies are detrimental to our shared culture but is silent on the fact that white supremacy, which his executive order promotes, has proved to be the greatest, most deadly identity politics of them all. See slavery. See the westward expansion of the United States and Manifest Destiny. This isn't the first time Trump has tried to overhaul the way we understand American history. On the heels of the Black Lives Matters protests following George Floyd's murder, Trump issued an executive order to create the 1776 Commission, a team of conservative politicians, activists, and pundits (none of them professional historians) to develop a 'patriotic education' that rescued American history from identity-driven revision that emphasizes critical thinking over patriotism. The '1776 Report' was meant as a repudiation of the influential New York Times' '1619 Project' that reoriented America's founding myths through the lens of the Transatlantic slave trade. One of Trump's final acts in office was the official release of that '1776 Report,' and one of President Joe Biden's first acts in office was to rescind it through his own executive order. Like the '1776 Report,' the current executive order targeting the Smithsonian is preoccupied with the nation's founding. It charges Vice President JD Vance with undoing 'false revisions' that have brought 'negative light' to our founding principles and insists — falsely — that the U.S. has always been a vehicle for universal freedoms. The administration demands that the Smithsonian – a sprawling network of 21 museums, research centers, an arboretum and a zoo — reflect its version of national identity by the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 2026. The Smithsonian is not entirely funded by the federal government, but enough of its budget relies on congressional appropriations that it's always been vulnerable to political whims. It's hardly surprising that a backward-looking political movement that seeks to 'make America great again' wants its version, and only its version, of the past on display at our country's highly visible cultural institutions. While people have always disagreed over what happened in the past and how it impacts where we find ourselves today, the Smithsonian is an institution that has helped steer people away from mythologies. The National Museum of the American Indian opened in 2004, breaking new ground with its focus on the representation of national racial and ethnic minority experience. The NMAAHC finally opened in 2016 during the last months of President Barack Obama's presidency, 13 years after president George W. Bush signed the legislation creating it. Though the late Rep. John Lewis introduced the bill to create the NMAAHC and Bush signed it into law, its existence should be credited to everyday people who pushed to see a truthful portrayal of themselves and their history in the nation's highest institutions. But this is not all that Trump has in mind when he mentions 'restoring truth and sanity.' It's about rolling back social progress. The administration singling out the NMAAHC — incorrectly suggesting that it frames nuclear families, hard work, and individualism as 'aspects of White culture' — is itself bizarre, but its underlying biologically essentialist take on society is even more troubling. It mentions the Smithsonian's upcoming American Women's History Museum, criticizing it for including nonbinary and trans women in its displays, saying that the museum should not 'recognize men as women in any respect,' such as 'male athletes participating in women's sports.' Not satisfied with preventing trans women from playing women's sports, the Trump administration appears to want to erase these communities from sight or even memory. The demand for more diverse and inclusive stories on the National Mall goes back generations and the fight won't stop with this executive action. As long as there are monuments, memorials, and exhibitions claiming to represent the public, the public will push back against those it finds to be misleading and offensive. In response to Trump's administration scrubbing government websites of what it terms DEI content, the American Historical Association has condemned that 'federal censorship of American history.' The question of 'who owns history' has always been a political one mired in power struggles, and Thursday's executive order reveals that the stakes of this struggle are greater than ever. This is not just about representations. It's about knowledge itself and the use of the knowledge to justify inequality. There's a reason people in Trump's administration seem more bothered by the idea of equity than diversity or inclusion: They don't seem to think we're equal and they're going after all content that suggests we are. They believe there is a natural order of human beings — a biologically rigid sytem of race — that puts them at the top. And they want to force our most celebrated historical institutions to back them up. This article was originally published on
