An institution that purports to tell a comprehensive and inclusive story about the history of African Americans should not have a politically motivated bent. Yet, it seems, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has just that.
The new Smithsonian museum, which opened in Washington, D.C. in September, excludes several prominent conservative African Americans in its narrative. Is this a simple oversight? I think not.
For example, Clarence Thomas, a well-known conservative and only the second black man to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, is mentioned only in connection with Anita Hill, failing to reference any of his accomplishments.
Hill grabbed national headlines in 1991 when she accused Thomas, a Supreme Court nominee at the time, of sexual harassment. Thomas was never charged with a crime, much less convicted of one, but his hearings proved to be a trial.
Thomas is arguably the second most powerful African American man in government today after President Obama, yet the Smithsonian neglected to even include a single photograph or item that speaks to the historical significance of his sitting on the bench.
Anita Hill should be a footnote to Clarence Thomas’ story, not the other way around.
Thomas is not the only prominent or historically important African American excluded from the museum’s collection. Edward Brooke, the first African American popularly elected to the U.S. Senate, is completely absent. He was a Republican.
Michael Steele, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and the first African American Chairman of the Republican National Committee, also goes without mention. As does Cora Brown, the first African American woman elected to a state Senate. Brown was a supporter of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The exclusions are not solely restricted to African Americans in government. Thomas Sowell, a conservative social theorist and economist, is nowhere to be found. As is author and columnist Shelby Steele (no relation to Michael), an opponent of affirmative action policies, which he believes victimize black Americans and ultimately hold them back.
African Americans are not a monolith of political thought, nor a monolith of thought in general. African American history and culture is richer, broader, and more diverse than the museum portrays. Again, why does the museum exclude diverse points of view?
Politics, I suspect.
The blatant omissions indicate that the museum’s curators, and perhaps its founding director, Lonnie Bunch III, are not open to ideas and political beliefs that don’t match their own.
The Smithsonian’s response to this lack of inclusiveness — that it “cannot tell every story” — rings hollow. With 350,000 square feet of space in the museum, there seems to be ample room, and the untold stories are seem to fit a familiar pattern.
Linda St. Thomas, chief spokesperson for the Smithsonian, said that the museum “will continue to collect and interpret the breadth of the African American experience.”
One way to help her and the Smithsonian achieve this goal is to sign a StandUnited petition, which calls for the museum to become more wide-ranging in its collection. The petition states that the exclusion of Clarence Thomas and other African American conservative leaders from the museum “shows blatant discrimination against diversity in thinking and a lack of tolerance for different ideas.”
With any new venture, museums included, there are going to be learning curves and growing pains. But one would hope that the National Museum of African American History and Culture provides more than just one narrow worldview.
The complete journey of black Americans cannot be told without including the contributions of Justice Thomas and Dr. Sowell. A museum calling itself “African American” is farcical without a narrative of these two American Giants.
Rev. C.L. Bryant is a pastor, motivational speaker, radio host and a senior fellow at FreedomWorks. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
