I am a Smithsonian Institution nerd. I have been for as long as I can remember.
I can’t say I’m surprised that President Trump is attacking the Smithsonian. He is following the authoritarian playbook, rewriting history and taking control of cultural institutions to try to make his distorted version of our national story the official version.
It makes me sad and angry on behalf of the millions of Americans who enjoy and learn from the Smithsonian every year.
I was a curious kid. My grandmother honored that curiosity by giving me a subscription to Cricket magazine, a children’s magazine whose publisher collaborates with the Smithsonian. When I got a little older, I upgraded to Muse, which is designed for young teens.
And then, on that glorious day I turned 15, I graduated to the official “adult” version, Smithsonian magazine itself. Why did this excite me? Because I wanted to read about our country and the world, history and science, art and music.
I also loved going in person — and still do. Because the Smithsonian’s museums are free, they are accessible to everyone. My family was able to visit even when we had little or no money to spare.
It’s cherry blossom season in Washington, D.C., and families from all over the country and world, representing every shade of skin color humanity has to offer, have been flying kites, having picnics, posing for pictures under the cherry trees and visiting Smithsonian museums.
After Trump issued his recent edict targeting the Smithsonian, I took a walk to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which he singled out for criticism.
The museum, the newest on the National Mall, has moved millions of people with its honest, humane storytelling about the complex history of Black people in this country — an essential part of the American story.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves by law as chancellor of the Smithsonian, spoke at the museum’s opening in 2016.
“Supreme Court decisions such as Dred Scott v. Sanford, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education document shame and hope along the road to equal justice under law,” Roberts said. “This museum provides a place for us to learn what life was like for the brave individuals who brought those cases to the Supreme Court.”
I have no illusions about Roberts, who has overseen the weakening of the Voting Rights Act and led the court’s majority in essentially declaring the president a king beyond the reach of the law. But I hope that he would not like to add the destruction of the Smithsonian to his legacy.
I have even fewer illusions about Vice President JD Vance, who also serves on the Smithsonian’s board of regents by virtue of his position.
Vance has pushed for aggressive attacks ...
