Since March 2025, people have been discussing the removal of certain items from the Smithsonian museums to align with the Trump Administration’s views on American culture and history.
This plan is meant to make the exhibits fit the president’s view of U.S. history, which could mean removing or changing things that do not match his view. Maybe some of these changes are about parts of history that make people feel embarrassed or sad. I do not know the real reason, but I am trying to find out.
Many people worry that the government might change, leave out, or erase parts of their history. This is not a new problem. Governments and other groups have often left out or hidden some histories for different reasons, like being ashamed of what happened, being afraid of criticism, or not wanting to know the truth about them to be known.
History is the study of things that happened in the past, especially those involving people and groups. It means gathering, looking at, and understanding information about people, places, cultures, and important events over time. It is both a record of what happened and a way to understand and explain those events. History helps us see how things change or stay the same, why some things happen, and what results they have, giving us helpful ideas about people and the world.
Both griots, whom I met while living and working in West Africa, and Western historians use stories that have been passed down for hundreds of years, along with written records, old objects, and other sources to learn how societies changed, how people and groups worked together, and how things that happened in the past have shaped today and still affect the future.
I believe the most important aspect of history is determining who decides what gets remembered and shared. Historians study and write about the past, and their choices shape what we see as important, but it isn’t just historians — governments, schools, museums, and other institutions also decide which events or people get highlighted in things like lessons, holidays, and monuments. They can choose to focus on some stories and exclude others. When exclusion happens, grassroots groups, minority communities, and activists often step in to bring attention to histories that have been ignored. They work to ensure that these stories are included, even if historians or officials didn’t initially consider them important.
What we remember about history can change when new ideas emerge, new facts are discovered, or society’s values shift. We need to be careful when people from outside a culture decide what is important in its history. This has happened before and could happen again. For example, outside researchers might focus on parts of a culture’s history that they believe are significant, sometimes noticing aspects that locals might overlook — but they can also miss important details that only people from that culture know.
This process is complicated and can even be risky. For example, allowing someone from a group with a history of unfairness to write about another group’s past can lead to a distorted version of events. The same problem happens when people from former colonial powers try to tell the history of African Americans, people in the African Diaspora, or those still living in Africa.
How we see history depends on who tells the story and what they believe. Someone from a former colonial power might try to be fair when looking at history, but it is hard to be completely neutral. People from former colonial powers might, even without knowing it, make their actions seem less harmful or more positive to protect their country’s image. This can lead to stories that only talk about the good things and leave out the harm, violence, or resistance from those who were colonized.
I have trouble trusting historical accounts from people in colonial powers because they might push their own views onto a culture’s past, sometimes changing or erasing local stories to fit what they want. They often do not fully understand the culture’s values or background, which can lead to mistakes or wrong ideas. When outsiders control the story, local voices and needs can be ignored, and people may lose control over their own history. It is a big problem for scholars and community groups when powerful people decide what gets shown in places like the Smithsonian Institution, and what gets removed or forgotten.
The worst part is that, when important historical items were taken away, no historians from the culture were involved. There was no attempt to be fair, which made it impossible to create a more balanced and inclusive history.
Otis D. Alexander, PhD, is an Academic Advisory Board member and academic historian with Blackpast.org and an alum of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Leadership for Academic Librarians program.