Concerns Grow Over Removed Exhibits At NMAAHC AKA ‘The Blacksonian’

Amidst President Trump’s flurry of executive orders targeting civil rights and Black history, concerns are growing over exhibits being rotated out at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

According to NBC News, certain artifacts and exhibits detailing the history of slavery and the civil rights movement are being rotated out of NMAAHC amid a potential review by the White House. In March, President Trump signed the “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” executive order that, among many other things, requires museums to remove exhibits that showcase “improper ideology.” 

Of course, “improper ideology” is simply code for “any piece of American history that makes white people feel uncomfortable and/or reminds them of the horrors this country was built on.” 

But I get it, “improper ideology” is less of a mouthful. 

From NBC News: 

NBC News went inside the museum and found at least 32 artifacts that were once on display have been removed.

They include Harriet Tubman’s book of hymns filled with gospels that she is believed to have sung as she led enslaved people to freedom through the underground railroad, as well as a cloth made by enslaved people and a photo of the hip-hop group Public Enemy. 

Also removed was the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” the memoir by one of the most important leaders in the abolition movement. Both items were gifted to the Smithsonian.

Both the White House and NMAAHC have pushed back against the idea that these removals were a result of the executive order. White House spokesperson Lindsey Halligan issued a statement saying, “The White House had no involvement in removing any exhibit from the National Museum of African American History and Culture or any other Smithsonian institution. They did this on their own accord.” 

Additionally, the NMAAHC has also issued a statement on their website saying that “recent claims that objects have been removed for reasons other than adherence to standard loan agreements or museum practices are false.”

I’d love to sit here and say, “Well, that’s that. This is a completely innocent, not at all suspect move by the museum.” Though when one considers that the former director of the NMAAHC left as a result of the Executive Order, and that both Chief Justice John Roberts and Vice President J.D Vance sit on the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, it doesn’t entirely pass muster.

Those who loaned the items to the NMAAHC also aren’t entirely convinced that their return wasn’t politically motivated. 

From NBC News: 

Liz Brazelton, the owner of a diary connected to the Oscar-winning film “12 Years a Slave,” isn’t convinced either. She’s the great-great-granddaughter of the lawyer who helped free Solomon Northup, a free Black man who was kidnapped and forced into slavery…

…she gave one of her great-great-grandfather’s diaries to the museum in September 2015 on a 10-year loan. The museum sent her a letter in March, before the end of the term, saying, “We have decided to move ahead with the return a bit early to coincide with our internal gallery rotation schedule.”

The letter was sent two weeks before Trump signed the executive order targeting exhibits at the Smithsonian, which raised a red flag for Brazelton.

The removal of these items from the NMAAHC comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly made attacks on free speech, DEI initiatives, and Black History. In April, the National Park Service came under scrutiny after it removed the story of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad from several exhibits. They eventually restored the exhibits after national outcry, but the fact that they even had the audacity to try it should tell you everything about where this administration’s priorities lie. 

As a result of the executive order and leadership changes at the NMAAHC, the museum was the site of the #HandsOffOurHistory rally earlier this month. The executive order, along with other moves by the Trump Administration, also spurred legislation from Democratic lawmakers to protect civil rights landmarks on the national register from being sold (because, of course, the Trump administration tried to do that). 

While it’s clear the Trump administration won’t stop coming for our history, the grassroots efforts by community leaders and select politicians have proven that they’ll damn sure have to fight for it. 

SEE ALSO:

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