A cultural reckoning has reached the Smithsonian Institution.
As the Trump administration goes on the offensive to rid one of the nation’s leading cultural institutions of partisanship and racial essentialism, the goal seems clear: Free the institution from personnel intent on using their perch to advance a left-wing agenda. But firing people is just the first step; the challenge begins when the cleanup crew is finished.
While conservative politicians play catch-up to a culture they abandoned in the ’70s, those in the arts fields say that it’s no easy task to restore quality and a positive vision of American values to arts and culture institutions.
The divisive question is the ongoing debate over the place of race and racism in the study and interpretation of American history, according to Jerald Podair, a professor of history and American studies at Lawrence University. Podair’s research centers on 20th-century American urban history and racial and ethnic relations.
There are basically two positions regarding race relations in the history of the United States, according to Podair: structural and aberrational.
“The first regards racism in American history as institutional, ‘hard-wired,’ if you will, into our governance, society, and experience,” Podair told National Review. “The other views it as an aberration from our nation’s founding ideals and values, but not an inherent element of our past and present. One demands a root-and-branch excision of our racist structures. The other demands only that we live up to the egalitarian principles that underlay American history, without the need to revise them.”
The structural approach holds sway at the Smithsonian, Podair said. The Trump administration, on the other hand, wants to steer the Smithsonian toward the aberrational approach.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, issued a public statement on June 9 announcing a full review of the Smithsonian’s personnel and content to ensure nonpartisanship. Bunch will spearhead the effort, overseen by the museum’s governing body, the Board of Regents. The board includes Vice President JD Vance, Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as six congressional regents and nine regents from the public.
“The Board of Regents has directed the Secretary to articulate specific expectations to museum directors and staff regarding content in Smithsonian museums, give directors reasonable time to make any needed changes to ensure unbiased content, and to report back to the Board on progress and any needed personnel changes based on success or lack thereof in making the needed changes,” the statement announced.
In an internal email the same day, Bunch admitted that some of the institution’s work “has not aligned with our institutional values of scholarship, even-handedness and nonpartisanship.” The review follows a March executive order directing the vice president to ensure the removal of “improper ideology” from the museums.
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