On August 12th, 2025, the White House sent a formal letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, ordering a comprehensive review of exhibits, educational materials, and even social-media posts at eight museums. The goal, according to the letter, was to ensure all content aligns with the President’s March executive order to present “uplifting” and “unifying” history and to remove “divisive or ideologically driven” language.

Historians and museum professionals have been quick to respond. The American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians warned in March that the new directives risk turning public history into “ideological litmus tests” rather than scholarly interpretation. As one museum scholar put it: “History is not a Hallmark card.”

Supporters in the administration frame this as “restoring accuracy” and removing political bias from taxpayer-funded exhibits. Critics counter that accuracy here means agreement with the White House’s preferred narrative — and that once you give political actors final approval over historical content, independence is the first casualty.

This push by the Trump administration reignites a battle cry from the right that demands the nation return to teaching the true history of the United States. But no one is asking some very fundamental questions, the first of which is: what exactly is “true history?” That leads to another fundamental question. Who exactly gets to make that determination? But this argument exposes a much deeper problem, and that is the fundamental lack of understanding about what history is in the first place.

Music by: Andrii Poradovskyi (lNPLUSMUSIC - Pixabay)

Show Notes: www.rootsoftoday.blog