Donald Trump labeled museums nationwide, including the Smithsonian, as 'woke' and criticized their focus on slavery and narratives of the 'downtrodden.' He called for attorneys to review museums and to apply processes used with colleges and universities. CNN NewsNight featured testimony from a formerly enslaved person and a panel including Scott Jennings and Batya Ungar-Sargon. Jennings and Ungar-Sargon affirmed that slavery was reprehensible while defending aspects of Trump's critique by reframing his remarks as a call for balance in museum narratives and greater attention to success, brightness, and future achievements.
The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been. He went on to write: Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future. We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made.
Well, look, I think let me just start this conversation by saying that my personal view is slavery was a reprehensible institution. I agree with your words, that it was our original sin. We also fought a war to eradicate it and to get over it as a country. And that was a necessary thing that happened and a lot of people died. And we did eradicate it. And that's a good thing. I think what he's asking is in our museums, what
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