At a combative hearing over the Trump administration’s push to strip “divisive narratives” from Smithsonian exhibits, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer asked historian Dr. David Blight what a museum becomes when uncomfortable history gets edited out. “A nice, pleasing stroll,” Blight replied, “and not much to talk about afterwards at lunch.” Pressed further on where museums’ loyalties lie, Blight didn’t hedge: “We do not serve the state; we serve the practice of the creation and dissemination of knowledge.
