Executive Order 14253 - Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History:
I almost never make posts on here, but I stumbled across executive order 14253, signed March 31, 2025, and could not find many articles or posts discussing the implications of this despite it being one of the most blatant attempts to rewrite history that I've ever seen.
It's intelligently written in a way that could easily sway on-the-fence supporters, labelling exhibits that record non-White perspectives on history as "ideolog[ic] rather than truth." It directly caters to racists and those without the education to know more than one side of American history, choosing to reject additional perspectives and deny their existence.
He is writing this in just the right way to convince his "America first" policy supporters, many of whom likely won't investigate much deeper than face value because, at a skim, it confirms their biases that American history is under attack and their president is here to fix it.
He goes on to claim that the Smithsonian Institution's recent attempts to record and display more perspectives on history are due to a "divisive, race-centered ideology." This was his example:
"[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement."
He is claiming that the United States has never used race to etablish and maintain systems of power, meaning he either wants to push a narrative that segregation wasn't racially motivated, or that it was an elective system in which Black people willingly participated. He proudly decries the widely-accepted, scientific position that race is, indeed, a social construct. He also calls for the reinstallment of monuments and statues removed for "ideological" reasons, prohibiting the plaque from displaying negative information on the subject.
There is also a small paragraph (Sec. 2 b. ii) barring transgender women from being mentioned in the American Women's History Museum, refusing to recognize them as women.
To enforce these policies, museums and other organizations that don't comply are being threatened with budget rescission.
This WILL erase Civil Rights history dating back to 1492. Exhibits mentioning the lives of People of Color throughout American history, detailing the struggles and horrors they experienced at the hands of White Americans, will be altered to depict the US in a positive light. In addition to PoC, exhibits with accounts by Queer people that display disparaging views on Americans will also be altered, if not fully removed.
Yes this is old news, but it's important news. It is a clear, undisputed order to sanitize the United States' authentic history into one of partial truths and total lies.
Executive Orders can be challenged by Congress. We are still a democratic republic. Our Representatives and Senators have publically available emails and phone numbers.
Here are some thoughts on EO 14253 by Claire Oberon Garcia, a Black Studies professor:
https://share.google/qTB1ebhfM7hAhtFC1
