Leave it to the current administration to call out Washington’s cultural institutions for pushing a twisted agenda. The president recently took issue with what he calls the Smithsonian’s unrelenting obsession with the shame of our past. He’s spat fiery words about the museum’s focus on “how bad slavery was,” challenging them to highlight triumphs instead of wallowing in negativity. His critics, of course, have gone ballistic, shrieking that the president is “minimizing” Black history. But is it truly wrong to ask our biggest, taxpayer-supported museums to show America’s brighter side?

To hear the media and certain activists tell it, you’d think the president wants to pretend slavery never happened. That’s not the stance at all. His complaint is that the museum lumps everything under a banner of self-loathing. From day one, he’s been trying to squash the left’s determined push to rebrand this country as some irredeemable fortress of oppression. He’s simply calling for genuine balance. Would highlighting the achievements of trailblazers be so awful? Why must we only highlight cruelty, as if the entire American identity is a brutal stain?

In typical fashion, the opposition is labeling him an enemy of Black history. That’s nonsense. The man famously recognized key historical figures like Harriet Tubman in his speeches—though those speeches rarely get covered by the mainstream. It’s not that he’s anti-history. He’s anti-distortion. He wants his administration to launch a wide-ranging review of certain federally funded exhibits so we don’t end up with propaganda. Leftist elites might see that as meddling. But if the Smithsonian is truly out of control and ignoring the greatness of the country that funds it, should we just shrug?

We can’t ignore how the Smithsonian lumps everything into a storyline about the country’s original sin—slavery—without celebrating how America overcame that sin. Millions of Americans, including minority groups, see themselves as part of a success story. The museum’s critics want to frame that as “white fragility,” but it’s more like “American pride.” The president says many exhibits aren’t giving the nation credit for what it has achieved, from the Civil War to the civil rights era and beyond. He’s slammed them for refusing to feature “success, brightness, the future,” preferring instead to dwell on atrocities.

Of course, left-leaning scholars are hyperventilating over the idea that the government might withhold funding if the Smithsonian refuses to comply. They say it’s a “violation of free speech.” Let’s be real: it’s the job of our elected leaders to hold institutions accountable. Museums are not above scrutiny if they are forging a narrative that fosters hostility or division.

And it’s not the first time the president has waged war on what he views as the left’s obsession with dividing people by race. He blasted the notion of endless diversity training that confuses vigilance with victimhood. He wants a bold reframing of American history that puts a spotlight on heroism. Yet critics moan that he’s simply “rewriting” the past. That’s a tired argument from people who prefer the darkest angle possible.

Plenty of Americans are fed up with political correctness hammered into every display, especially in places that are supposed to unify us. The president’s approach says: Teach the entire story, absolutely—but don’t let the country’s hope and promise get smothered in guilt. To many Americans, that’s a welcome departure from the scolding tone we hear in far too many academic forums.

Isn’t it time the Smithsonian recognized that not every visitor wants to be lectured about how evil this nation is? People want context, nuance, and a sense that we can be proud of what we’ve overcome. The left sneers at that perspective, but that sneer is exactly why the administration’s push resonates with a lot of Americans. The fight isn’t about erasing the hardships or the horrors that happened—it’s about not being forced to see them as the only defining story of our national identity.

Topics: ["Trump Administration"]