The Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery will keep Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger in its “Struggle for Justice” exhibit despite criticism.
In a letter last week, a group of black pastors of Ministers Taking a Stand opposed Sanger’s bust in the exhibit due to her association with eugenics, abortion, and racism.
According to CNSNews, the museum issued a statement that said keeping Sanger in the museum helps visitors “see the past clearly and objectively.”
The goal of the museum is not necessarily to display those who improved the country. The National Portrait Gallery “was chartered not to be a hall of fame, but to collect and display portraits of individuals who represent the full spectrum of the American experience,” the statement said.
American history is difficult to explore without running into such contradictions.
As Sanger wasn’t the only prominent thinker to endorse eugenics, it shows the complexity of understanding an inclusive, consistent form of justice.
