Slavery is the latest issue that has drawn the ire of the Trump administration and Trump in particular. “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been. Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,” Trump ranted in a social media post. “This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE. We have the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our museums.” Yes, you read that correctly.

Understandably, and thankfully, a number of historians, journalists, legal scholars, and other individuals rapidly contested such intellectually dishonest commentary. “It’s the epitome of dumbness to criticize the Smithsonian for dealing with the reality of slavery in America,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian. “It’s what led to our Civil War and is a defining aspect of our national history. And the Smithsonian deals in a robust way with what slavery was, but it also deals with human rights and civil rights in equal abundance”. Annette Gordon-Reed, professor of history at Harvard University, president of the Organization of American Historians, and a Pulitzer award-winning author, said on Democracy Now!, “It’s an attempt to play down or downplay what happened in the United States with slavery . . . This is a whitewashing of history.”

CNN host Abby Phillip delivered a lavishly eloquent and passionate argument rebutting the abhorrent allegations of Jillian Michaels by deftly detailing the immense impact that slavery has had from the nation’s birth to today. Even after the Thirteenth Amendment officially abolished slavery in 1865, approximately 700,000 Americans died as a result of such a horrid practice, not to mention the havoc it caused to the country’s then four million freedmen and freed women that continues to manifest itself today.

To be sure, Trump is by far not the only conservative who has ridiculously and obscenely defended slavery. All one need do is peruse several right-of-center websites - some who identify as conservative, others who describe themselves as nationalists - to observe the astounding level of commentary in support of slavery. The disturbing truth is that many of these posters are likely genuine in their viewpoints.

Trump’s attitude is reminiscent of the behavior of Scott Terry, an attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference who argued that slavery was not all that bad; on the contrary, it was actually good for Black people because it provided them with food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials. Additionally, the right-wing media company PragerU promoted an animated cartoon of Christopher Columbus dismissing slavery’s severity: “Being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no?” Needless to say, such disingenuous rhetoric is nothing short of obscene. This reminds me of former first lady Michelle Obama’s comments at the 2016 Democratic National Convention: “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.” Her comments, which were true and accurate, angered a number of right-wing pundits and podcasters including Bill O’Reilly, Ben Shapiro and the late Rush Limbaugh.

According to Trump and his right-wing sycophants, supposedly “true history” museum exhibits and history books of the future will demonstrate slavery never existed; racial, gender, religious, sexual and other discrimination never occurred; and the slaughter of the Indigenous population was brief and minimal at best. They assert that there was never a time when hard-working, law-abiding immigrant families were separated, whereas current estimates put the number at 80,000 people - most of them entirely innocent - who were imprisoned, abducted, and deported from a country they had labored so diligently to benefit. No precise and real history may be mentioned; on the contrary, it is forbidden lest we allow unpatriotic ideologues to tarnish American exceptionalism.

Such rhetoric dramatically contrasts with remarks Trump made in 2017 praising the Smithsonian Institution’s efforts to showcase the positive and negative aspects of our nation’s history. “It’s amazing to see,” Trump said, following a tour of the museum. “I could stay here for a lot longer. Believe me, it’s really incredible I’m deeply proud that we now have a museum that honors the millions of African American men and women who built our national heritage, especially when it comes to faith, culture, and the unbreakable American spirit.”

When Trump argues that our history focuses too much on how atrocious slavery was (and it was), he downplays the realities of human bondage and advocates for a world in which Black people, other people of color, lower-income people, and women should allow White men to lead them and be grateful for such leadership. Upscale enslavers prior to the Civil War espoused similar arguments to defend their demolition of democracy in an effort to establish an oligarch class. When Trump urges Republicans to slash voting rights to prohibit socialism and retain power, he employs identical arguments former Confederates espoused after the war to deprive from voting those who would utilize the government for the public good.

Trump has routinely stoked racial and cultural divisions by amplifying White anger and promoting himself as a guardian angel of White people, both domestic and international. Quentin James, a co founder of the Collective Political Action Committee, which aims to elect Black officials in America, said Trump’s comments about the museums were an attempt to protect “white fragility.” “For all of us, it’s an assault on our history and an assault on what we know to be true,” James said, while for Trump it is about “white grievance and him exerting his authority.”

Since taking office for his second term, Trump has spearheaded a ruthlessly aggressive effort to eradicate DEI policies from the federal government and has harassed and investigated institutions and schools that have embraced such inclusive policies. He has tried to redefine the nation’s sordid past by attempting to absolve the chronic and perennial racism and discrimination that have largely defined America by mitigating and obscuring such history, preferring to promote a pristine and utopian vision of America. To whitewash history (literally) by prohibiting students and museum-goers from hearing the truth is not only a blatant insult to Black and Indigenous Americans but a problem for everyone. The truth is that history provides context for the present. Failing to acknowledge American history makes it difficult, if not impossible, to arrive at a fundamental understanding of how we arrived at our present predicament.

One can only wonder what would make any rational, decent human being assert that slavery was a good thing. The fact is that slavery was violent, responsible for the deaths of millions of people, destroyed families, economically decimated entire populations, robbed them of their religion and cultural heritage, etc.

There was nothing positive about it. This is particularly true for the millions who were lashed down by its cruel and rapacious spirit. White men such as Donald Trump, Dennis Prager, and others who feel compelled to justify slavery as a benign institution should consider placing themselves in chains, be taken to an unknown territory, allow themselves to be sold to the highest bidder, and let things play out from there.

Better yet, they should take a long, deep, hard look in the mirror of their souls and ask themselves: “Am I defending what I would want for myself?” I can pretty much anticipate their answer.