President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed toward undoing most of the modifications made throughout the racial reckoning motion, together with the restoration of monuments, and the elimination of so-called “anti-American ideology” from nationwide museums and different federal properties.
The White Home stated the order was a part of “restoring fact and sanity to American historical past by revitalizing key cultural establishments and reversing the unfold of divisive ideology.”
The chief order requires the elimination of “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian and its museums, schooling and analysis facilities, and the Nationwide Zoo,” pointing to displays that deal with the USA’ historical past of racism and have fun the transgender rights motion.
“The prior administration pushed a divisive ideology that reconstrued America’s promotion of liberty as essentially flawed, infecting revered establishments just like the Smithsonian and nationwide parks with false narratives,” the order reads.
Trump’s directive additionally calls on the Secretary of the Inside to revive statues and different monuments which have been “improperly eliminated or modified within the final 5 years to perpetuate a false revision of historical past or improperly decrease or disparage sure historic figures or occasions.”
Many monuments to racist figures in American historical past had been vandalized and finally eliminated throughout the 2020 rebellion in response to the homicide of George Floyd. Within the capital, these embody memorials honoring Confederate generals and a pro-slavery Supreme Court justice who stated Black folks weren’t Americans.
Whereas in workplace, former President Joe Biden supported the removal of racist statues from public squares and advocated for transferring them to museums targeted on that side of American historical past.
Trump has signed greater than 100 government orders ― directives that don’t require Congressional approval ― simply two months into his time period, far outpacing the variety of orders signed by no less than the previous 14 presidents.
