The director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is currently on leave, according to an internal email obtained by the Washington Post. The email revealed that Kevin Young, who has served as director of the museum since 2021, has been on personal leave for an “undetermined period” as of March 14 and that Shanita Brackett, the museum’s associate director of operations, has been appointed to serve in his place.
Now, according to the Post, the internal email circulated nearly two weeks before President Donald Trump announced the signing of yet another one of his executive orders, which he claims promotes unity, but, actually, they only reinforce white nationalism at the expense of non-white people and, certainly, at the expense of Black history.
Last week, we reported that Trump’s latest bid to rewrite American history by taking a metaphorical white-out pen to all references to systemic racism (*gestures toward literally all of American history*) targeted the Smithsonian Institution and, specifically, the NMAAHC. Trump claimed his order was aimed at correcting a “concerted and widespread” effort over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” adding that it casts the “founding principles” of the United States in a “negative light.”
In other words, the president who wouldn’t know an objective fact if it crossed over the Southern border illegally is working really hard to force institutions of learning to pretend the Founding Fathers weren’t largely comprised of slave owners or slavery advocates who believed “the negro race” was an inferior race, and that the systemic racism they fostered hadn’t persisted through two and a half centuries of legalized slavery, 100 years of second-class citizenship for Black people, and — as long as we’re counting — another 60 years of racist elected officials working at making America regress again.
Trump said his EO required the removal of all “improper ideology” — which, to him, just means anything he and his MAGA minions ideologically disagree with — and he claimed the African American History museum, specifically, portrayed American and Western values as inherently “harmful and oppressive,” which they demonstrably have been to non-white people throughout recorded history.
Even though the announcement of Young’s unexplained departure came nearly two weeks before Trump announced his latest unilateral decision to rewrite history under penalty of defunding, it’s pretty difficult to believe one thing had nothing to do with the other. However, the official word appears to be that the two events are unrelated, and it’s worth mentioning that the NMAAHC wasn’t the only targeted museum.
From the Post:
There is no evidence that the announcement is connected to recent pressures placed on the Smithsonian. (Reached by The Post, spokesperson Linda St. Thomas declined to comment.) Still, Young’s indefinite absence from one of the Smithsonian’s most visited institutions leaves two of the three museums singled out by Trump’s order without permanent leaders at the helm. One, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, removed its director last summer. The third, the forthcoming American Women’s History Museum, named a new leader last year.
So, Trump wants to MAGAfy Black history, women’s history and the art world, which has already been demonstrated by his hostile takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
Trump’s and MAGA’s “improper ideology” has always been all about indoctrination and propaganda while they claim everything else is indoctrination and propaganda. They’re not anti-censorship, and they certainly aren’t anti-big government as we have not seen a federal administration wield this much power and forced influence in modern history. Unfortunately, we’re only beginning to see the extent of the fallout.
SEE ALSO:
Cory Booker Breaks Racist Senate Record With 25 Hour Anti-Trump Speech
Trump’s Administration Is Really Good At This One Thing
African American History Leader On Leave For ‘Undetermined Period,’ Internal Email Reveals
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