John,

Last week, Trump signed an executive order to ~~restore truth and sanity~~ whitewash American history. We knew that MAGA was a dogwhistle for racism, but damn this is a new low.

The order calls for a major sanitization of the Smithsonian Institutions and historical sites all across the US—aka an erasure of Black History and important stories that the Smithsonian tells.

The order directs JD Vance to seek the removal of “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from the Smithsonian's museums and research centers. No seriously, read that again.

This is a complete whitewash of American history by eliminating critical contexts related to slavery, racism, and other challenging aspects of America’s past and present.

And it’s not just happening at the Smithsonians. This is in addition to Trump’s National Park Service completely erasing and undermining the huge impact of Black advocates and Black struggle as well as key moments from history like slavery, the Underground Railroad, and Jim Crow from their website.

The Smithsonian executive order also targets national monuments, saying that the Interior secretary should review monuments, markers, and statues that may have been removed since January 2020.

You can pretty much bet that means:

Confederate statues are going back up
They’re going to do everything in their power to shut down the African American History Museum

If you’re not alarmed, it’s about time that you are. This is ANOTHER attack on our public history, culture, and education. Part of what makes the Smithsonian museums so great is that they’re free to the public.

First our books, then our history lessons in school, and now museums.

Let’s acknowledge: museums are far from perfect. So many of them are symbols of colonization with their looted artifacts from oppressed peoples across the globe. But we can’t ignore this attack on public institutions and Black history.

We need to talk about the full history of this country. Not a sanitized one. To move forward we must reckon with the ugliness of American history. Our stories NEED to be told loudly, proudly, with thoughtfulness and empathy.

America is far from perfect, John. Sign our petition now to tell the Trump administration that we will not shy away from the truth. We must protect the Smithsonians — and all museums — as pillars of public knowledge and history.

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In solidarity,

Black Lives Matter

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