A walk through a Smithsonian museum reveals American genius and cruelty as Trump presses for change

Washington – In a promenade of an afternoon through the zero -zero ground of Americana – the National Museum of American History of Smithsonian – Objects at each corner invite a question: what could be more American than that?

What could be more American than this huge starry star banner in all its used glory? Or more American than Dorothy’s Rubis slippers from “The Wizard of Oz”?

And what could be more American than a calculation with the sins of the nation, as illustrated by chains representing slavery and the photos of Japanese Americans confined to the detention camps during the Second World War? It is in authoritarian countries, like Russia, where history is rubbed.

In an innumerable way, the museum explores “the complexity of our past”, in agreement with its mission statement. President Donald Trump wants a simpler story telling. He wants this and the other museums of the Smithsonian to reflect the American pride, power and success without all darkness, and he threatens to retain money if they do not obtain this program.

On social networks, Trump complained that in the museums of the Smithsonian, which are free to visit and obtain most of their government money, “everything that is discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery, and how much the oppressed have nothing to do with success, nothing brightness, nothing of the future.”

In fact, the History Museum reflects abundant successes, whether on the battlefield, kitchens and factories of food pioneers, on the music scene, in films or other fronts of creativity and industry. The American Enterprise exhibition, for its part, has a wall filled with stories of successful Americans.

During this wandering tour, you can see navigation tools used by Blackbeard, the terrifying pirate, of its raids from the early 1700s on the Atlantic coast. You see the hat that Abraham Lincoln has brought to the Ford’s Theater the night of his assassination, the ceremonial uniform of George Washington, the pajamas in red silk end of Warren Harding in the early 1900s, the first car to travel across the country and a $ 100,000 ticket.

You can see the original bulbs of American genius, Thomas Edison. A genius much earlier, the founding father Benjamin Franklin, is presented both as a gifted inventor and an owner of slaves who came publicly to denounce slavery but never released his.

These shades and ambiguities may not be long for this world. Artifacts and documents of American ingenuity, subjugation, generosity, racism, cruelty, corruption, heroism and cultural appropriation.

Like most museums, the emphasis is not on the future.

Even so there is a lot to provoke the Republican President.

In the “great debate” of an exhibition of American democracy, a wall is displayed with great words such as “privilege” and “slavery”. The museum presents exulpted tributes to the contributions of immigrants and accounts on the racist landscape that many have encountered.

The exhibitions address “food justice”, the exploitation of the Philippins after the United States annexed its land and the Native American pensioner network from which Jim Thorpe has emerged and has become one of the greatest athletes of all time.

The last sovereign of Hawaii before his annexation by the U..S. In the 1890s, Queen Lili’uokalani, was cited on a banner as requiring: “Is the American Republic of States to degenerate and become a colonizer?”

An exposed ukulele was made around 1890 by a sugar worker who worked in the American plantations of the kingdom before a coup supported by the United States reversed the monarchy. Visitors to the museum are informed that the new instrument was retained by the monarchs as a symbol of anti-colonial independence.

“Ukulele is both a product of American imperialism and a powerful symbol of indigenous Hawaiian resistance”, explains the text that accompanies it.

At the Greek statue of George Washington, the text suggests its complexities and stops below the total reverence that totalitarian leaders obtain.

Note that “the modern scholarship focuses on the fallible man rather than on the marble hero”, the text says that the image of Washington “is always used for inspiration, patriotism and commercial gain” and that it “continues to hold a place for many as a symbolic” father “of the country”.

During this visit, the preservatives behind a large window are seen sweepless brushes on old wooden parts. Their patriotic work takes place at a rate of snail.

The team restores the Philadelphia gunboat, which is part of a small fleet which hired the British navy during the battle of the island of Valcour in Lake Champlain in 1776, delaying the efforts of Great Britain to cut the colonies of New England and buy time for the continental army to prepare for its decisive victory in Saratoga.

The commander of the gunboats in the Battle of Valcour later became the greatest American traitor, Benedict Arnold. The British so damaged the philadelphia that he sank an hour after the battle, then was lying underwater for 160 years. It is restored for next year celebrations of the 250th American year.

“Philadelphia is a symbol of the way the citizens of a newly trained nation have met, despite overwhelming chances of their success,” said Jennifer Jones, project director. “The fragile state of this boat is symbolic of our democracy; It requires the attention and vigilance of the nation to preserve it for future generations. ”

The fragility of democracy is considered in a museum section on the limits of the presidential power. This is where the references to the two Trump dismissal were deleted in July for the update and were restored this month.

“On December 18, 2019, the Chamber welcomed Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of the congress,” said a label. “On January 13, 2021, Donald Trump became the first president to be charged twice,” said another. “The accusation was the incitement to the insurrection according to its challenge of the results of the 2020 elections and its speech on January 6.” Its Senate acquittals are duly noted.

It is a fair assertion of the fruits that has removed the country so deeply separated. The History Museum does not offer answers to this difficult situation. Instead, he poses questions in his rooms on the fundamental principles of Americanism.

“How should the Americans remember their revolution and the Nation Foundation?”

“What does patriotism look like?”

“To what extent should citizens be diverse?”

“Do we need to share a common national history?”

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The Associated Press writer, Lynn Berry, contributed to this report.