When
                                  does a depiction of history turn into a
                                  “corrosive ideology”? When the current
                                  administration is working overtime to erase
                                  facts about our nation’s history and
                                  foundations. They want to remove any reminders
                                  about the evils of enslavement and its
                                  critical role in the development of this
                                  country. We need to say it repeatedly; there
                                  would be no United States without enslavement.
                                  We built this
                                  nation. Our labor produced the White House (or
                                  The House that Enslaved People Built), the
                                  Capitol, and even some of the odious monuments
                                  to slaveholding colonialists. This is a
                                  history that this President would erase.
                              The
                                    Washington Post reported
                                  that an anonymous source said the
                                  administration “has ordered the removal signs
                                  and exhibits related to slavery at multiple
                                  national parks”. This is a follow up from the
                                  President’s March executive order asking the
                                  Interior Department to eliminate information
                                  that reflects a “a corrosive ideology”. The
                                    Post reports
                                  that the National Park Service is removing
                                  signs that fail to whitewash our nation’s
                                  history. The President has said many times
                                  that we talk about enslavement too much. I say
                                  we cannot talk about it often enough.
                              Harper’s
                                  Ferry, West Virginia is the site of John
                                  Brown’s failed rebellion against enslavement.
                                  According to The
                                    Post,
                                  more than 30 signs referring to this history,
                                  have been flagged for alteration or removal.
                                  This desperate attempt to rewrite history is
                                  our President’s corrosive ideology. He
                                  promised to fix the economy, and he has not.
                                  Instead, he has fully immersed himself in the
                                  culture wars, seemingly prioritizing the
                                  culture wars over economic stability.
                              Many people have seen the iconic
                                  photograph, The Scourged Back, show the back
                                  of a man who was beaten so many times that his
                                  back is a painful tapestry of scars. It was
                                  used, years ago, to promote the film, Twelve
                                      Years A Slave. A copy of that photograph has
                                  been part of many exhibits about the Civil War
                                  and enslavement. It was exhibited at Fort
                                  Pulaski National Monument in Georgia but has
                                  been removed because it supposedly was part of
                                  “corrosive ideology”. Yet the most corrosive
                                  of ideologies is one that cannot stand the
                                  truth about our nation’s history. The
                                  so-called Chief Executive Officer of these
                                  United States ought to be more interested in
                                  the economy than in important historic
                                  documents. But the corrosive ideology of this
                                  administration has restored Confederate
                                  monuments, attempted to scrub museums of
                                  historical reference, and removed textbooks at
                                  the Naval Academy.
                              This
                                  Administration fully understands the
                                  importance of symbolism, of pomp and
                                  circumstance. This may be why the President
                                  would like to rename the Kennedy Center after
                                  himself and add his wife’s name to another
                                  section of the Center. This is why the
                                  President will give the murdered conservative
                                  activist Charlie Kirk, a posthumous
                                  Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is why
                                  Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose legal
                                  credentials are highly questionable, says she
                                  will “absolutely” target those who use hate
                                  speech, including any negativity toward
                                  Charlie Kirk.
                              The
                                  corrosive ideology of this administration is
                                  to suppress or to erase. Erase the photograph,
                                The
                                    Scourged Back,
                                  because it makes some people uncomfortable.
                                  Suppress words critical of Charlie Kirk
                                  because they aren’t sufficiently deferential
                                  to a provocative activist who invited
                                  criticism.
                              This
                                  is a delicate time to talk about Charlie Kirk.
                                  I mourn his murder, am abhorred by the killing
                                  of a 31-year-old father. It would be foolhardy
                                  to deny the provocative nature of his work,
                                  but a detailed analysis of his legacy is
                                  premature – those who choose to be critical
                                  might, for the sake of decorum, share their
                                  views after the man is buried.
                              Conservatives who say they
                                  believe in free speech actually believe in
                                  free speech only when conservatives agree with
                                  it. A free speech nation would welcome the
                                  exhibit of The
                                    Scourged Back. A free speech nation would not
                                  embrace an Executive Order “Restoring Truth in
                                  American History” since the purpose of that
                                  Executive Order is to suppress truth and
                                  whitewash history.
                              This
                                  is the corrosive ideology of this
                                  administration. Lie, suppress, or deny our
                                  nation’s history. And to think we have years
                                  more of this corrosive (to use their word)
                                  form of government.