If there was any doubt that the debate over America’s museums has become another front in the nation’s culture wars, Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing erased it.
Lawmakers brought Smithsonian officials to Capitol Hill for a hearing titled, “Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian’s Efforts to Reshape the Past.” The central question hanging over the proceedings was straightforward: Is the Smithsonian presenting American history as faithfully as possible, or is it pushing a political agenda with taxpayer funding?
Republicans argued it was the latter.
According to the committee, members examined what they described as efforts by the National Museum of American History and the broader Smithsonian Institution to promote programming that they viewed as divisive and historically inaccurate. They criticized exhibits and educational materials that focus heavily on race, class, gender, and sexuality, contending that the institution has drifted from presenting history into advocating a particular worldview.
Representing the Smithsonian was director Anthea Hartig.
Now, if you’ve watched enough congressional hearings, you already know the rhythm. Members of the witness’s political allies ask friendly questions designed to let them explain their position. Members of the opposing party come loaded with exhibits, quotations, and pointed questions meant to expose contradictions.
That’s exactly what happened here.
And then came Rep. Brandon Gill.
The Texas Republican skipped the lengthy setup and opened with a question that immediately grabbed the room.
“Is Mickey Mouse racist?”
For a moment, you could almost feel everyone wondering where this was headed.
“Mickey Mouse is not racist,” Hartig answered.
Gill wasn’t asking randomly.
He pointed to Smithsonian material that, according to him, described Mickey Mouse as representing “vestiges of long-standing traditions of blackface minstrelsy.”
“So,” Gill pressed, “would you describe that as racist?”
Hartig attempted to explain that Mickey Mouse’s historical development had connections to the tradition of minstrelsy. Before she could fully expand on the point, Gill interrupted.
“So Mickey Mouse is rooted in racism, is that your testimony?”
“No, sir,” Hartig replied. “It’s rooted in minstrelsy.”
That answer only prompted another round of questions.
Gill challenged the distinction, asking how something could be rooted in minstrelsy—a performance tradition historically associated with blackface—without also being considered racist. The exchange became one of the hearing’s most talked-about moments because it highlighted the larger disagreement over how museums interpret historical influences and present them to the public.
But Gill wasn’t finished.
According to Fox News, he shifted to another subject by raising the MASS Action Toolkit, a museum resource developed in the mid-2010s that discusses issues including the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Gill asked Hartig whether being “polite” was an important value.
She answered yes.
That response set up his next point.
Gill cited past diversity and museum training materials that have characterized ideas such as objectivity and politeness as features associated with white supremacy culture. He questioned whether those concepts should be viewed that way.
Hartig responded that the specific toolkits Gill referenced were not official Smithsonian publications.
Gill countered by pointing to other Smithsonian educational materials that, in his view, similarly characterize traits such as self-reliance and objective or scientific thinking as hallmarks of white supremacy.