The Smithsonian’s New Black History Museum and the Riches Within

Yehuda

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Petition Launched to Include Clarence Thomas in African American Museum

By Penny Starr | October 20, 2016 | 3:31 PM EDT

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Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. (AP)

(CNSNews.com)
– The StandUnited website has launched a petition to have Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas included in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

The only reference to Thomas in the new museum, which opened on Sept. 24, is a video of Anita Hill testifying against him at his confirmation hearings.

“Justice Thomas is the longest-serving African American Supreme Court Justice in our nation’s history,” Angela Morabito, senior campaign manager of the website, told CNSNews.com. “StandUnited users are commenting on the petition about how they want to see Smithsonian embrace history, instead of selectively editing it.”

“Justice Thomas has a uniquely American story, in all its complexity – he grew up in the segregated South, and is now the second most powerful African American man in government,” Morabito said. “Petition signers think he deserves credit for his extraordinary contributions to American government and constitutional scholarship.”

The petition, entitled “Director for Smithsonian Museum of African-American Culture and History, Lonnie Bunch III : Don't Overlook African American Leaders like Justice Clarence Thomas,” has gathered hundreds of signatures since it was launched on Oct. 6 by Megan Thomas (no relation), who lives in Reston, Va.

Megan Thomas wrote this about launching the petition:

Justice Clarence Thomas is the second black man to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and a steadfast conservative who protects our closely held freedoms. He has established himself as one of the brightest legal minds of his generation, yet the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture fails to include any mention of his numerous accolades. This obvious oversight is even more glaring since this month commemorates Justice Thomas’ 25th anniversary on the Court.

It is obvious politics is what kept Justice Thomas out of the museum. For years, he has been shunned by the liberal black community since he has spoken out against affirmative action. He has written that affirmative action amounts to racial discrimination, and detailed how it worked against him when he was trying to find work as a lawyer.

Curators at the museum singled out Thomas due to his unique views on race and his conservative thought that the federal government is the greatest threat to our individual liberties. The museum highlights people of less noble endeavors, and it is unfathomable to think the curators were not open-minded enough to include all historically significant African Americans, no matter their political beliefs. It is time to call on the museum’s director, Lonnie Bunch III, to include American leaders and conservative thinkers such as Justice Clarence Thomas.



The petition letter to the museum director states:

To Director for Smithsonian Museum of African American Culture and History, Lonnie Bunch III:

The decision to exclude Justice Clarence Thomas and other African American conservative leaders from the National Museum of African American History and Culture shows blatant discrimination against diversity in thinking and a lack of tolerance for different ideas. This decision not only does a disservice to the individuals purposefully left out, but also to all visitors to the museum.

This obviously partisan decision highlights how you discount original and different thinking in favor of mainstream ideas that fit into your particular worldviews. The museum highlights people of less noble endeavors, and it is unfathomable to think you were not open-minded enough to include all historically significant African Americans, no matter their political beliefs.

The museum is still in its infancy and it is not too late to change course. Please add exhibits that highlight all black Americans, not just those that fit into your narrow worldview.


Sincerely,

[Your Name]

Petition Launched to Include Clarence Thomas in African American Museum
 

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Trump signs executive order accusing Smithsonian Institution of spreading 'anti-American ideology'​

March 28, 2025

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  • Summary
  • Order suggests aiming at whatconservatives see as revisionist history
  • Order singles out National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • Order says Biden administration "pushed a divisive ideology"
March 27 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered that "improper, divisive or anti-American ideology" be removed from the Smithsonian Institution, the vast museum and research complex that is a premier exhibition space for U.S. history and culture.
The Republican president, in an executive order, directed that Vice President JD Vance undertake the action.

The order also directs the Interior Department to restore federal parks, monuments and memorials that have been “removed or changed in the last years to perpetuate a false revision of history.”

The order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” is vague about what the president views as anti-American ideology. But it suggests Trump is seeking to purge elements of what conservatives view as a revisionist history of the United States that places systemic racism at the heart of its narrative.

The order singles out the National Museum of African American History and Culture as problematic, claiming that it informs visitors that “hard work,” “individualism” and “the nuclear family” are aspects of “White culture.”

The order also asserts the American Women’s History Museum plans to celebrate male athletes participating in women’s sports.
The White House did not elaborate on the order, and neither the Smithsonian nor the African-American History museum responded to requests for comment.
The Smithsonian spans 21 museums, most of them in the nation's capital lining the mall from the U.S. Capitol to the Washington Monument, and including the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American History and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The Smithsonian, whose website says it is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, also encompasses 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo.

The order is in line with the Trump administration’s efforts to do away with diversity and inclusion programs in government, universities and corporations.
Vance is a member of the Smithsonian's Board of Regents.
According to Trump's order, the Democratic Biden administration “pushed a divisive ideology that reconstrued America’s promotion of liberty as fundamentally flawed, inflecting revered institutions like the Smithsonian and national parks with false narratives.”

Trump earlier this year made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center in Washington, indicating that he wants to leave his mark on U.S. arts and culture as part of his presidency.
Trump has been a strident critic of renaming or removing Confederate statues and monuments. Earlier this year, he restored two U.S. Army bases to their former names of Fort Benning and Fort Bragg despite a federal law that prohibits honoring generals who fought for the South during the Civil War. The administration says the names honor different individuals, all former soldiers.

In 2017, Trump defended white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, who protested the city’s decision to remove a statue of the confederate commander Robert E. Lee. At the time, he said there were “very fine people of both sides” of the fight, sparking widespread outrage.
 

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Finally went last week. For a long time it was impossible to get tickets (timed entry).

It's really good, but one of those museums where you want to read everything and take it all in and reflect. Instead, the spot is full and you basically need to keep it moving at all times.
 
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