Trump's Perversion of U.S. History

One more example of Trump's broadcasting fake news and lies is his confrontation with American history.

In his Executive Order, "Restore Truth and Sanity to American History," Trump stated that there has been "a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth." He has, among other things, instructed the National Park Service and a variety of museums and other sites to remove all information that "inappropriately disparage Americans, past or living." This includes information about slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, and a host of other subjects.

While it may make some people uncomfortable or angry to have these subjects raised officially in public, they do just state the facts. The purpose of history is not to make people comfortable; it is to learn from the past. As usual, it is instead Trump who is "replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth."

This is not, as he says, "a revisionist history," it is rather, "calling a spade a spade." It is only revisionist in the sense that, in the past, neither the government nor many institutions were interested in telling the truth of our history to the American public; what they provided was a whitewashed version of history.

That attitude ended decades ago, and the truth has been out ever since. Slavery was a horrific experience. Many Founding Fathers, including Washington and Jefferson, were slave holders. A host of inhumane actions were taken against the Native American inhabitants of our country. And the list goes on.

As usual, Trump clothes his lies with the aura of fighting for truth, when, in fact, he is perverting the truth through outright lies or misinformation by providing information only on what made America great and omitting information about troublesome aspects of American history.

What is, however, almost as troubling as Trump's playing up to his white supremacist supporters, is that Black leadership organizations, organizations with moral authority (i.e., churches), and people themselves have not raised their voices, not just in objection or condemnation but in massive displays of disapproval through public non-violent demonstrations. Yes, there have been ongoing demonstrations about the actions of ICE, but they have been disappointingly small; e.g., thousands marched in Manhattan, but there should have been hundreds of thousands.

Has Trump effectively put the fear of his wrath in so many people and organizations that few will stick their neck out to speak out against him and his MAGA allies? Have people come to feel that Trump will get away with anything he wants to do (the Supreme Court has consistently allowed him to continue his actions while cases are proceeding slowly through the courts), so that they feel there is no reason to make the effort to oppose him?

How would Martin Luther King Jr. have reacted to recent events? Would he have stood at the sidelines and just voiced his despair? It's great that the American bishops of the Catholic Church and several American cardinals came out with forceful statements rebuking Trump's efforts, but those statements contained no call to action by anyone, whether politicians or the people.

Demonstrations would unlikely change Trump's direction, but they would provide evidence both to America's silent majority as well as the world that Trump is acting in ways that are decidedly un-American and that are only supported by his base. And by so doing, it would increase the likelihood that at last some Republican legislators will speak their mind, if only to ensure that they are re-elected this November.

As citizens of this republic, it is ultimately our responsibility—not the politicians'—to insure that our democracy and our history remain intact.

Ronald L. Hirsch is a teacher, legal aid lawyer, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, consultant, composer, author, and volunteer. He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Chicago Law School and the author of We Still Hold These Truths. Read more of his writing at www.PreservingAmericanValues.com