The dangers of Trump’s framing of revisionist history as an act of patriotism

It’s well documented that the Holocaust wiped out six million Jews, yet to this day, there are deniers. It’s equally well known that Japanese troops forced tens of thousands of Korean women into sexual bondage during World War II. And that the Turks massacred more than a million Assyrians during World War I, and that the Chinese government has persecuted millions of Muslim Uyghurs — and continues to do so to this day.

In the first two cases, governments have owned up to their inhumane behavior. In the second group, governments have refused to acknowledge culpability, continuing to promote revisionist histories.

Under the administration of Donald Trump, the United States is quickly joining the world’s revisionist nations. Using the power of executive orders, Trump is attempting to wipe out our past by creating an artificial narrative to align the U.S. with his version of “a more perfect union,” irrespective of the imperfections of our past.

This version of the Big Lie serves no one other than those who want to deny the nation’s history in the name of creating a more pleasant present for the white majority — regardless of its inaccuracies.

In the process, Trump-led revisions are not only wiping out American history, but they are offending the very existence of those who — directly or indirectly — have been harmed by our nation’s injustices. Trump’s moves are also insulting to those of us who know better.

Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” was issued to “eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from national museums, education and research centers, national monuments, and even the National Zoo.

His order included erasing any “misleading” racial and gender statements describing discrimination or other forms of mistreatment. Trump claimed this cleansing effort was necessary because of what he described as recent activities to “rewrite American history” in ways that demean the United States.

Trump-led revisions are not only wiping out American history, but they are offending the very existence of those who — directly or indirectly — have been harmed by our nation’s injustices.

Under Trump’s directive, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Women’s History Museum, and the American Art Museum have been pinpointed as initial targets. Anything related to discrimination must be removed from their exhibits.

Confederate statues and facilities named for Confederate leaders that have been renamed in recent years because of their past association with white supremacy must be restored.

And the National Park Service has been instructed to remove signage on monuments acknowledging the ills of slavery, mistreatment of Indigenous populations, and the abuse of Japanese Americans being shipped off to “internment centers” during World War II.

From photographs to national markers to land confiscation to written descriptions, any references to discrimination must be removed because, in the words of Trump’s executive order, they are “anti-American.”

Any references to discrimination must be removed because, in the words of Trump’s executive order, they are “anti-American.”

If anyone is rewriting American history, it’s Trump. Much like his infamous “alternative facts,” otherwise known as untruths, Trump is designing a history of convenience. His brazen attempts to deny our past only weaken the values of our present.

By denying the nation’s historic frailties, Trump makes it easier to continue revisionism in the current moment. Eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion policies becomes almost a natural corollary in a political environment constructed on a misleading social and cultural foundation.

None of this speaks well for American democracy, which until now has become stronger by attempting to acknowledge and deal with the historic errors of our past.

Racism, gender discrimination, intolerance of non-Christian religions, and other prejudices have occurred throughout our history, and continue to this very day.

To ignore them makes us weaker, not stronger.

Conversely, to acknowledge them reveals a nation that seeks to grow from the harms of the past.

Doing anything less than admitting our historic errors will only perpetuate the same modern-day lies here that have been inaccurately posed by Turkey, China, and the other nations of the world that we so easily condemn for their malevolence.

Global leadership is more than having the world’s most powerful economy and military. It also has a moral element that depends upon owning up to historic misdeeds and showing the world a willingness to do better in the present. At its core is the idea of setting an example for others to follow.

Rather than global leadership, Trump’s new policy is a way of legitimizing discrimination — and that is simply inconsistent with the promise of equality in a democracy.

Larry N. Gerston is a professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University and the author of “Trumpism, Bigotry, and the Threat to American Democracy,” which was published in 2023 by Lexington Press.