The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., is experiencing one of its most turbulent periods in its nearly nine years of existence and is currently without leadership after its executive director stepped down. The institution’s recent targeting by President Donald Trump over what his administration deems are “divisive” exhibits has raised concerns among advocates and observers. “Our opponents are trying to erase Black history, Black voices and Black lives,” said African American Policy Forum executive director Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in an interview.
Kevin Young was serving as the director of the NMAAHC until his resignation in early April, just as Trump issued an executive order entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which took aim at the Smithsonian and the NMAAHC in particular as having “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.” Young, who had been in the position since 2021, had actually been on leave since March 14. Unnamed sources had expressed that some felt that the position was too complex for Young, who had previously served as the head of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York, and is still the poetry editor for the New Yorker.
Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, however, praised Young’s work in making the NMAHHC more accessible for all during his tenure, citing recent exhibits such as one on Afrofuturism and design and a major exhibition on slavery, “In Slavery’s Wake,” which will travel to Europe, South America and Africa over the course of the year. In an internal memo, Bunch reiterated the intent to continue the museum’s mission, writing that “we remain committed to telling the multifaceted stories of this country’s extraordinary heritage.”
Many in the Black community, led by Black churches, have rallied behind the NMAAHC through organizing rallies and fundraising drives as the Trump administration has debated whether to withhold federal funding. There have been reports of the administration removing exhibits from the museum such as parts of the Woolworth’s lunch counter from the sit-ins of the Civil Rights Era being removed, but those would be proven as inaccurate by Smithsonian leadership. Other items returned to those who donated them to the NMAAHC were explained as having been returned due to the end of their being leased to the museum.
