The Japanese American National Museum, dedicated to preserving the history of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, on Wednesday criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to eliminate “anti-American ideology.”
The order and related moves under his administration “form part of the administration’s broader, ongoing campaign to dismantle foundational principles of diversity and democracy, suppress historical narratives that challenge their preferred version of events, and erase the contributions of people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and other marginalized communities from the American story,” said the museum, which is located in Los Angeles.
The museum, known as JANM, was hit by grant cuts under the current Trump administration, putting the preservation of its collection and the existence of its workshop project for teachers at risk temporarily.
While JANM’s finances regained stability thanks to donations from many people, it voiced fresh concerns about the administration’s actions.
In the executive order signed in March, Trump claimed that his country’s “unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”
Based on this, U.S. authorities issued orders to put up notices for exhibitions, movies and others that are deemed to disparage U.S. history.
In a statement, JANM President and CEO Ann Burroughs said that the museum “is deeply disturbed by this new directive, especially at historical sites like Manzanar and Minidoka where Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War II.”
“As JANM has said before, history does not yield to censorship or political ideologies,” she said. “JANM will continue to embody our mission, ensure that history is told fully and truthfully, and carry the lessons of history forward.”
AloJapan.com