The Trump administration is attempting to rewrite history by removing artifacts from museums which show our checkered past, citing in the official executive order “Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed”.

The president is focusing on removing artifacts that indicate or initiate discussion involving America’s racism, sexism, or other issues from museums, especially focusing on “fixing” the Smithsonian and restoring landmarks and statues that have been removed in the last few years. The edits to exhibits at the Smithsonian have been overseen by J.D. Vance, Lindsey Halligan, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate Majority Leader. 

We have seen this editing and revision of history before, in fascist governments under Hitler, Stalin, Putin, and Mussolini. In September 1933, the Nazis created the Reich Chamber of Culture. They oversaw the production of art, music, film, theater, radio, and writing in Germany. The Nazis sought to shape and control every aspect of German society, believing that art played a critical role in defining a society’s values. They removed anything that disagreed with the image they wanted, confiscating, destroying, or selling any works they labelled as “degenerate”.

During the Stalin era, Russian history was rewritten to conform to the political demands of an increasingly controlling regime, disappearing people who disagreed from him in real life and then in photos as well to try and erase them from history. Putin has rewritten numerous textbooks to change history to support what he is doing in Russia, and Mussolini did the same, completely revamping the education system to better fit his beliefs. 

George Orwell once famously said, Who controls the past, controls the future, who controls the present, controls the past”.  It makes you think.