By Dr. Frances Murphy DraperAFRO Writer and CEO
America can’t afford to whitewash its previous. But that’s precisely what’s at stake within the present assessment of the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition. To query whether or not slavery and racism belong within the story of this nation isn’t solely harmful—it’s racist and, fairly frankly, ridiculous.
The Smithsonian Establishment’s inner assessment of its museums and exhibitions, prompted by a March government order, has been described by the White Home as a “constructive and collaborative effort” rooted in respect for the Establishment’s mission. However let’s be sincere about what this actually is: an try to sanitize historical past. When politicians determine which tales will be informed, reality turns into the primary casualty.
The Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition has, since its opening in 2016, drawn hundreds of thousands of holiday makers from throughout the US and all over the world. It’s the solely nationwide museum devoted solely to preserving and telling the African American story, which suggests it preserves the American story itself. Its displays will not be ornamental shows; they’re America’s receipts—proof of what was purchased, constructed and damaged on the backs of enslaved folks.
Simply because the Holocaust is remembered in all its brutality, so should America reckon with the reality of chattel slavery, Jim Crow and racial terror. Something much less is historic erasure, a rewriting of information to make the nation seem extra palatable. However historical past isn’t meant to consolation—it’s meant to confront. And solely in confrontation do we discover the teachings that lead us ahead.
The Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition (NMAHC) doesn’t exist to make guests snug. It exists to inform the complete story of this nation—its horrors and its triumphs. The shackles, the slave cabins, the lynching pictures are laborious to take a look at, sure, however they’re crucial. They remind us of what was endured, resisted and overcome. Are we actually ready to inform our youngsters a fairy story as a substitute of the reality?
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As somebody whose family lived by means of that historical past, I do know that the story of Black America is considered one of each ache and perseverance. Additionally it is a narrative of triumph: of constructing households, companies, church buildings, colleges and newspapers within the face of unrelenting obstacles. To erase the “ugly components” is to erase the context that makes our resilience so extraordinary.
We dishonor our ancestors after we fake that slavery was something lower than a foundational atrocity. We insult the current after we permit political whims to dictate which truths are deemed “acceptable.” And we jeopardize the long run after we deprive generations to return of the teachings that solely sincere historical past can educate.
For this reason NMAHC issues. Positioned on the Nationwide Mall in Washington, D.C., it’s not only a constructing—it’s a mirror held as much as America. Each exhibit, each artifact, each story says: this occurred and it formed who we’re. Guests go away with a deeper understanding not simply of Black historical past, however of American historical past, and of the continuing battle to construct a extra simply society. That’s exactly why efforts to weaken or censor its work are so harmful.
So, what should we do? We should stand with NMAHC, sure—but additionally extra. We should defend the reality in opposition to erasure, protect historical past by sharing it with our youngsters and grandchildren, and help the mission by turning into members and advocates. Encourage college journeys. Take a neighbor. Contribute what you’ll be able to. Establishments like this can’t thrive and not using a neighborhood of supporters who acknowledge their worth and refuse to allow them to be diminished.
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The reality of America’s story isn’t negotiable. It isn’t topic to political whim. It should be informed absolutely, courageously and with out compromise—as a result of historical past informed honestly is the one sort that heals. Erase the reality, and also you erase America itself.
