Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch III
The image went viral, and you can see why: a lone Black woman, sitting on a Washington, D.C., Metro train, surrounded by members of Patriot Front. She is the only one showing her face, wearing an expression both calm and wary. You don’t exactly know what the rest are thinking, since their bodies are covered with masks and a uniform of khaki and navy blue on a broiling summer day.
That’s par for the course for flash mob-type gatherings organized by the group the Anti-Defamation League describes as white supremacist. Though, after viewing a video of confused members navigating the D.C. Metro system, with leader Thomas Rousseau shouting instructions no one seems to understand, “supreme” is not the word that comes to mind.
On a day celebrating the country’s 250th birthday, it was an arresting scene, and just one during a weekend that bore the mark of one man. But it was a scene that stuck, more than fireworks barely visible (on TV anyway) through a haze of polluted smoke or sparse crowds at a poor facsimile of a state fair.
Maybe that’s because the Department of Justice under the direction of President Donald Trump has prioritized pardoning and erasing the crimes of members of such groups, so their bold presence made perfect sense.
Their goal was not to celebrate America as it is, but to “reclaim” a vision of a country that never was, a sentiment Patriot Front marchers screamed. Some carried the Confederate flag of traitors — losers when they attempted division in a bloody Civil War — perhaps presaging the modern-day group’s own fate if America’s history of hard-fought triumph over dark forces is any blueprint for the future.
They might have learned a thing or two about how that war turned out and much more from a visit to the museums on the National Mall — America’s true treasures, and they’re free. But I’m pretty sure knowledge was not on the agenda.
Another group of Trump supporters did not have any choice.
In what can only be described as an act of God, thunderstorms forced thousands of attendees at the Freedom 250 celebration to take refuge in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
It was a situation impossible to ignore and too far-fetched for a fiction writer to imagine.
That museum, which Trump praised as “great” in his first term, has since come under attack from the current administration. Praise to condemnation — that’s very on-brand for a president who, in his second term, has escalated to lashing out at everything from perceived enemies to facts he doesn’t like.
Last year, in an executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” the museum was listed as one of the offenders in the Smithsonian’s “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history.”
That “our” is doing a lot of work in that particular charge, as it ignores an awful lot of “us,” patriotic Americans who celebrate the ideals of a country that has sometimes struggled to live up to them.
Not telling the whole story flattens American history and robs it of its richness.
There is “so much winning” exalted within those walls — to use one of Trump’s favorite phrases — stories of resilience, of human beings coming together. That should make any viewer proud.
As someone who has toured the museum more than once, I lamented images of many of the Freedom 250 refugees looking at their phones instead of the wonders of the space, even if they could venture no farther than the lobby.
The building itself is a work of art, wrapped in an ornamental bronze-colored metal lattice, through which the architect pays homage to “the intricate ironwork crafted by enslaved African Americans in Louisiana, South Carolina, and elsewhere,” as the museum explains.
“This building will sing for all of us,” in the words of Lonnie Bunch, the museum’s founding director and current secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the first African American and first historian to serve in that role.
Lately, Bunch has been busy making the Smithsonian’s mission crystal clear. That’s after the White House released a 162-page report singling out the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. It states that the museum “no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.”
Did any of the report’s authors bother to explore the museum’s “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness” exhibit, timed to celebrate the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s 250th anniversary?
That’s Thomas Jefferson’s desk on display at the Smithsonian Castle!
“Our work is driven by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America’s story,” Bunch wrote to his staff in a memo obtained by news outlets. The secretary had to lead the defense, since it doesn’t seem to be a priority for members of Congress.
But what’s more important than learning about America’s commitment to democracy in an election year?
Perhaps no one said it better than Roswell Encina, who also shared an uncomfortable Metro ride with the Patriot Front contingent as he made his way to a July Fourth party. In Salon, Encina shared the background that made his experience especially poignant.
As someone whose father served in the U.S. Navy, whose family moved between the United States and the Philippines, who became a citizen and remembers his first presidential vote, Encina is proud of his work as president and CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, “where our mission is to preserve history, elevate civics and help Americans better understand Congress and the Capitol.”
What a valuable resource for the masked men surrounding him, who, like many of those who entered the walls of the Smithsonian out of necessity rather than curiosity, ignored the glorious truth staring them in the face.
Encina’s definition of patriotism? It’s “not about deciding who belongs. It is not about intimidation or fear. Patriotism is about widening the circle of liberty, dignity and opportunity so that more people can fully participate in the promise of this country.”
Reclaim that.
Mary C. Curtis has worked at The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Charlotte Observer, as national correspondent for Politics Daily, and is a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. She is host of the CQ Roll Call “Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis” podcast. Follow her on X @mcurtisnc3.
Reprinted with permission from Roll Call
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- Trump Goes to War With Smithsonian Museum for Teaching History | The New Republic ›
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- Trump report slams Smithsonian leaders as activists who can't be trusted | AP News ›
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