In an internal letter to staff, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch defended the National Museum of American History after the White House published a scrutinizing report misrepresenting the institution for perceived bias.
“While there will always be room for improvement, this report is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History,” said Bunch, the Smithsonian’s first African American chief and its 14th Secretary, in the letter, which was obtained by ABC News.
The 162-page White House report released on July 4, claimed the Smithsonian Institution and specifically the National Museum of American History “fails to illuminate our heritage” and instead spreads “extreme political activism.”
Furthermore, the report said the museum engaged with “anti-White activism,” “illegal alien activism,” and “transgender activism,” along with arguing that the museum overemphasizes slavery.
In addition, the report said the National Museum of American History has “problematized” the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
“As this report shows, the Museum purposely presents America as a problematic country irredeemably conceived, founded by deeply flawed men, and still operating today as an instrument of systemic racism and oppression,” the report said. “In the Museum’s current telling, the country is, above all, defined by white supremacy, slavery, conquest, exclusion, hierarchy, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and systemic injustice.”
“For more than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship, and we remain committed to doing so,” a spokesperson for the Smithsonian told ABC News in response.
Additionally, in the internal letter Bunch thanked staff members for their dedication and belief in the institution, according to ABC News.
Since 2019, Bunch has overseen 21 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers, and various educational units and centers.
“We remain focused on what grounds us: a steadfast commitment to scholarship, nonpartisanship, independence, accuracy and integrity,” Bunch responded in the internal letter, according to NPR.
This is the latest in the Trump administration’s demands for changes at the Smithsonian. Even though the institution is independent of the executive branch, under the Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History Executive Order, Trump focuses on “Saving Our Smithsonian.” According to the executive order, “The Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.”
Founded in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, aiming to increase and diffuse knowledge. In 1964, the National Museum of American History was opened to the public under the institution.
