Black churches across the country are becoming members of the National Museum of African American History and Culture to defend it against Trump’s accusations of pushing “divisive, race-centered ideology.”
Rev. Robert Turner of Empowerment Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore is encouraging his congregation to pay the $25 membership fee to join the African American history museum, AP reports. He credits the move to Rev. Otis Moss III of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, who urged his church members to do the same.
“For only $25 a year, you can protect Black history,” Moss told his church.
Other pastors who have joined the movement include Rev. Jacqui J. Lewis, senior minister at Middle Church in New York City, a multiracial congregation affiliated with the United Church of Christ, and Bishop Timothy Clarke of the First Church of God in Columbus, Ohio.
“We belonged to the museum since its opening, and we just made another donation to them in light of this administration’s policies,” Lewis said, noting the $1,000 “Easter Love donation” the congregation gave the museum.
The churches’ rising support for NMAAHC comes in response to Trump’s March 27 executive order, which targets what he called “divisive” Smithsonian exhibits. The order also appoints Vice President JD Vance, who serves on the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to lead the charge in removing so-called “improper ideology” from these institutions.
While Trump has pledged to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness,” critics accuse him of attempting to whitewash American history by glossing over the horrific truths surrounding slavery and segregation. Turner, who regularly walks 43 miles from Baltimore to the White House each month to advocate for reparations, recalled a recent moment when a child saw his “REPARATIONS NOW” sign and turned to their mother to ask, “What are reparations?”
“That to me is a perfect manifestation about why we need to be teaching more true history of America, and not taking away certain subjects because they make people feel uncomfortable,” Turner said.
On April 18, House Democrats on the Administration Committee, responsible for overseeing the Smithsonian, sent a letter to JD Vance voicing their concerns about the executive order.
“This flagrant attempt to erase Black history is unacceptable and must be stopped,” the letter said. “The attempt to paper over elements of American history is both cowardly and unpatriotic.”
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