{"id":559,"date":"2026-07-14T11:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T11:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=559"},"modified":"2026-07-14T11:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T11:37:16","slug":"facing-americas-truth-with-eyes-and-ears-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=559","title":{"rendered":"Facing America\u2019s truth, with eyes and ears open"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The image went viral, and you can see why: a lone Black woman, sitting on a Washington, D.C., Metro train, surrounded by members of Patriot Front. She is the only one showing her face, wearing an expression both calm and wary. You don\u2019t exactly know what the rest are thinking, since their bodies are covered with masks and a uniform of khaki and navy blue on a broiling summer day.<\/p>\n

Read more For Sean Astin, it\u2019s see and be seen \u2026 on C-SPAN<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s par for the course for flash mob-type gatherings organized by the group the Anti-Defamation League describes as white supremacist. Though, after viewing a video of confused members navigating the D.C. Metro system, with leader Thomas Rousseau shouting instructions no one seems to understand, \u201csupreme\u201d is not the word that comes to mind.<\/p>\n

On a day celebrating the country\u2019s 250th birthday, it was an arresting scene, and just one during a weekend that bore the mark of one man. But it was a scene that stuck, more than fireworks barely visible (on TV anyway) through a haze of polluted smoke or sparse crowds at a poor facsimile of a state fair.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s because the Department of Justice under the direction of President Donald Trump has prioritized pardoning and erasing the crimes of members of such groups, so their bold presence made perfect sense.<\/p>\n

Their goal was not to celebrate America as it is, but to \u201creclaim\u201d a vision of a country that never was, a sentiment Patriot Front marchers screamed. Some carried the Confederate flag of traitors \u2014 losers when they attempted division in a bloody Civil War \u2014 perhaps presaging the modern-day group\u2019s own fate if America\u2019s history of hard-fought triumph over dark forces is any blueprint for the future.<\/p>\n

They might have learned a thing or two about how that war turned out and much more from a visit to the museums on the National Mall \u2014 America\u2019s true treasures, and they\u2019re free. But I\u2019m pretty sure knowledge was not on the agenda.<\/p>\n

Another group of Trump supporters did not have any choice.<\/p>\n

In what can only be described as an act of God, thunderstorms forced thousands of attendees at the Freedom 250 celebration to take refuge in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.<\/p>\n

It was a situation impossible to ignore and too far-fetched for a fiction writer to imagine.<\/p>\n

That museum, which Trump praised as \u201cgreat\u201d in his first term, has since come under attack from the current administration. Praise to condemnation \u2014 that\u2019s very on-brand for a president who, in his second term, has escalated to lashing out at everything from perceived enemies to facts he doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

Last year, in an executive order, \u201cRestoring Truth and Sanity to American History,\u201d the museum was listed as one of the offenders in the Smithsonian\u2019s \u201cconcerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

That \u201cour\u201d is doing a lot of work in that particular charge, as it ignores an awful lot of \u201cus,\u201d patriotic Americans who celebrate the ideals of a country that has sometimes struggled to live up to them.<\/p>\n

Not telling the whole story flattens American history and robs it of its richness.<\/p>\n

There is \u201cso much winning\u201d exalted within those walls \u2014 to use one of Trump\u2019s favorite phrases \u2014 stories of resilience, of human beings coming together. That should make any viewer proud.<\/p>\n

Read more South Carolina governor picks Graham\u2019s sister to serve out his term<\/a><\/p>\n

As someone who has toured the museum more than once, I lamented images of many of the Freedom 250 refugees looking at their phones instead of the wonders of the space, even if they could venture no farther than the lobby.<\/p>\n

The building itself is a work of art, wrapped in an ornamental bronze-colored metal lattice, through which the architect pays homage to \u201cthe intricate ironwork crafted by enslaved African Americans in Louisiana, South Carolina, and elsewhere,\u201d as the museum explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis building will sing for all of us,\u201d in the words of Lonnie Bunch, the museum\u2019s founding director and current secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the first African American and first historian to serve in that role.<\/p>\n

Lately, Bunch has been busy making the Smithsonian\u2019s mission crystal clear. That\u2019s after the White House released a 162-page report singling out the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. It states that the museum \u201cno longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did any of the report\u2019s authors bother to explore the museum\u2019s \u201cIn Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness\u201d exhibit, timed to celebrate the Declaration of Independence and the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Thomas Jefferson\u2019s desk on display at the Smithsonian Castle!<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work is driven by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America\u2019s story,\u201d Bunch wrote to his staff in a memo obtained by news outlets. The secretary had to lead the defense, since it doesn\u2019t seem to be a priority for members of Congress.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s more important than learning about America\u2019s commitment to democracy in an election year?<\/p>\n

Perhaps no one said it better than Roswell Encina, who also shared an uncomfortable Metro ride with the Patriot Front contingent as he made his way to a July Fourth party. In Salon, Encina shared the background that made his experience especially poignant.<\/p>\n

As someone whose father served in the U.S. Navy, whose family moved between the United States and the Philippines, who became a citizen and remembers his first presidential vote, Encina is proud of his work as president and CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, \u201cwhere our mission is to preserve history, elevate civics and help Americans better understand Congress and the Capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n

What a valuable resource for the masked men surrounding him, who, like many of those who entered the walls of the Smithsonian out of necessity rather than curiosity, ignored the glorious truth staring them in the face.<\/p>\n

Encina\u2019s definition of patriotism? It\u2019s \u201cnot about deciding who belongs. It is not about intimidation or fear. Patriotism is about widening the circle of liberty, dignity and opportunity so that more people can fully participate in the promise of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reclaim that.<\/p>\n

Mary C. Curtis has worked at The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Charlotte Observer, as national correspondent for Politics Daily, and is a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. She is host of the CQ Roll Call \u201cEqual Time with Mary C. Curtis\u201d podcast. Follow her on X <\/em>@mcurtisnc3.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump informs Congress of renewed military action against Iran<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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