1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I cannot in words express my anger and disgust over the President’s executive order for the Smithsonian and government institutions to remove historical material it deems “divisive” and “anti-American.” President Trump does not have a history degree, and I guarantee that no one who helped construct this order did either. To broaden our understanding of our past, we seek to tell more stories from more people. Sometimes we learn stories that make us uncomfortable or ashamed. That is part of being an American. Trump and his ideology seek to tell fewer stories. They seek to restrict access to historical perspectives that are from anyone other than White men. They seek to only tell us stories that make us feel nice and proud of the United States. That is NOT history. That is a mythology. That is a national religion meant to consolidate power. I want to be clear that I do not lightly draw comparisons to the Third Reich, but I don’t know what else to call this at this point but Hitlerian. Hitler’s course of action after taking power took eerily similar steps. He suppressed dissent, ignored the courts, and ordered the removal of educational materials deemed “divisive” or “anti-German.” We have all learned about the rise of the Nazi Party, its consolidation of power in the 1930s, and the horrors it committed in the 1940s. I don’t know what the point of learning that history was if it’s not supposed to warn us when it starts happening again. To whoever is reading this - a staffer or intern - I’m sure at some point in a history class you’ve wondered what you would have done if you lived in Nazi Germany. You don’t have to wonder anymore. It’s 1933. Make your choice.