Museums are supposed to be neutral ground – meaning that if I am looking at an exhibit of the Wright Brothers I don’t need or want a curator to tell me about the “patriarchy,” remind me that Orville and Wilbur were white men and that, if given the chance, a woman of color likely would have flown first. If that seems farfetched, well, unfortunately that seems to be what has happened to the national museums in D.C.
The last time I was in Washington D.C., I had a pleasant time visiting the museums. I didn’t get lectured about my white privilege. Things have changed. Apparently, the Smithsonian abounds with ideologues. Recently, the museum has, through one-sided display placards, the types of displays, and the elimination of important, impactful people and historical things, attempted to lecture visitors with ideology that is anathema to most Americans. Fox News exclusively reports:
The Trump administration is turning its attention to the Smithsonian Institution, accusing the taxpayer-funded museum complex of using federal dollars to promote what it calls "one-sided, divisive political narratives" that fail to honor the greatness of the American story.
White House official Lindsey Halligan blasted content currently on display at the National Museum of American History’s Entertainment Nation exhibit in an exclusive email to Fox News Digital.
The exhibit, which explores American pop culture, has drawn internal and external criticism for what some see as a politically loaded interpretation of cultural milestones.
Cultural iconography like "Star Wars" has been hijacked. I recall going to the "Star Wars" films and being blasted with the John Williams theme music. It was a simple, themed film. Good guys beat bad guys. According to Smithsonian curators, I was wrong.
"Star Wars" was really about the “loss in Vietnam and revelations about Richard Nixon’s dirty-tricks presidency.”
Law professor Jonathan Turley notes other exhibit perversions:
Another description, based on a 1923 circus poster, reads: “Under the big top, circuses expressed the colonial impulse to claim dominion over the world.”
In presenting another display, the Smithsonian tells visitors, “One of the earliest defining traits of entertainment in the United States was extraordinary violence.”
Some are simply weird. For example, a display of the Lone Ranger states: “The White title character’s relationship with Tonto resembled how the U.S. government imagined itself the world’s Lone Ranger.”
Visitors are also told that Mickey Mouse was challenging authority, but “not everyone was in on the joke.”
Much of the commentary is disconnected from not just the artifacts but reality. The problem is not political bias, but the new culture of curators. Just showing artifacts with neutral, factual descriptions is considered passe and pedantic... https://t.co/bdheKx7CR2
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 5, 2025
Professor Turley notes, in the article linked above, that the White House is "demanding changes":
Now, the White House is demanding changes after the Smithsonian was unable to offer an exhibit on American pop culture without extraneous social or political commentary.
...
For me, the problem is not political bias, but the new culture of curators emerging from higher education. Just showing artifacts with neutral, factual descriptions is considered passe and pedantic. For people who are more interested in seeing original items of historical importance, they are met with displays focusing on interpretive elements and thematic narratives.
I don’t need nor do I want to be lectured or told that there is a subtext in the "Steamboat Willy" Mickey Mouse cartoon. I don’t need or want recoil while reading a panel explaining "Star Wars" is really a subtextual message about the Vietnam War. No, in fact, it isn’t.
A large portion of the Smithsonian's budget comes from the federal government. One hopes that the White House can turn this around and eliminate political bias in museum displays.
I want a neutral setting for the nation’s museums. Nothing more, nothing less.
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