WASHINGTON ‒ A coalition of civil rights leaders kicked off a weeklong campaign to rally around the national African American museum and push back against what it calls efforts by the Trump administration to erase Black history.
“We should be clear that these efforts are intentional. Our opponents are trying to erase Black history, Black voices and Black lives,” Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, executive director of the African American Policy Forum, one of the groups leading the effort, said in an Aprl 28 statement. “As a result, they are undermining democracy.”
The national campaign comes in the wake of several executive orders from President Donald Trump, including one to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion across federal agencies. He also signed an order taking aim at the teaching of and preservation of what he described as “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.” That order singled out some Smithsonian Institution museums, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Civil rights leaders, however, have called it the “crown jewel” of the Smithsonian’s museum system. The museum, which opened in 2016 on the National Mall, has had millions of visitors over the years, including 1.6 million last year.
The #HandsOffOurHistory/Freedom to Learn National Week of Action campaign will include a march May 3 from Freedom Plaza near the D.C. City Hall to the national African American museum a few blocks away.
More: Trump sets sights on national African American history museum
Organizers are calling on local groups throughout the week to support Black museums, libraries and other institutions in their communities.
Civil rights leaders also signed an affirmation to support the preservation of Black history.
“We affirm that Black history is American history, without which we cannot understand our country’s fight for freedom or secure a more democratic future,” it reads in part. “We must protect our history not just in books, schools, libraries, and universities, but also in museums, memorials, and remembrances that are sites of our national memory.”
Trump has argued otherwise saying in his order that rather than fostering unity, ”the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame, disregarding the progress America has made.”
‘We need to ramp it up’
Public outcry has ramped up since Trump singled out the national African American museum in late March. Its director, Kevin Young, stepped down on April 4, a little more than a week after Trump’s executive order,
Historians and activists have been using social media to press to protect the preservation of Black museums and other institutions.
“We need to amp it up a little bit,” said Vedet Coleman-Robinson, president and CEO of the Association of African American Museums. “We’re shouting from the mountaintop.”
Coleman-Robinson said it’s important for communities to make sure their local museums and libraries remain and are sustained through this administration. Communities can help by raising funds, renting spaces and visiting the institutions, she said. She said it’s also important for people to lobby Congress for support.
“They do amazing work, but they are less than 1% of the federal budget,” she said. “So if you are taking an ax or machete or whatever it is to a federal budget, I don’t think that you would start with the smallest.”
Some Black museums took a hit during Black History Month because there were fewer schools and corporations planning visits because of the anti-DEI push, Coleman-Robinson said. She’s worried that could spread.
“I can see that happening across the board as it pertains to all museums,” she said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Civil rights activists rally to protect national Black museum
