President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to review potential ”anti-American” sentiment being expressed on U.S. monuments and memorials.
President Donald Trump has ordered federal officials to scour monuments, memorials and statues to remove language he says may “inappropriately disparage Americans,” as part of his efforts to fight DEI and foster what he argues is necessary national patriotism.
Trump and other conservatives have railed against what they see as inappropriate focus by national parks and other historical sites on America’s history of enslavement, land theft and discrimination. Trump argues such focus perpetuates “a false reconstruction of American history” and that the sites should instead be promoting American exceptionalism.
Critics argue efforts like Trump’s newly issued executive order are tantamount to whitewashing the sometimes-tragic history of the United States, and that all Americans deserve to know the full story. Trump’s order mirrors similar efforts in Florida, Texas and other states to alter how American history is taught.
In a Thursday executive order titled “restoring truth and sanity to American history,” issued Thursday, Trump objected to what he called a concerted effort to downplay American successes, and to cast historical milestones and the nation’s founding principles “in a negative light.
He directed the U.S. Department of the Interior and other agencies to review Smithsonian exhibits and national park service sites for what he believes are anti-American displays and sentiment.
As an example, Trump objected to how at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, park leaders “pressured” rangers into thinking about how their own racial identity should dictate how they interpret the park for visitors. He also cited how the National Museum of African American History and Culture has proclaimed that “hard work,” “individualism,” and “the nuclear family” are aspects of white culture.
