PF1 Friday Mini: The Smithsonian Institution’s woke leaders are indoctrinating millions with anti-American propaganda

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What is Miranda’s main claim about the Smithsonian’s current direction?

Miranda Devine 0:04
Hello, it's Miranda. I'm back with a new mini episode of Podforce One. This feature is a little more topical and relevant to my job as a columnist for the New York Post. Today, the topic is the irredeemable anti-American wokery of the once great Smithsonian Institution. If you wondered how communism has grabbed a foothold in the United States of America of all places, look no further than the Smithsonian Institution. The world's largest and most influential museum has been hijacked by Marxist ideology to teach self-loathing anti-American woke propaganda to its 20 million annual visitors plus 20 million students a year. The Smithsonian teaches that politeness, punctuality, objectivity and hard work is white supremacy, and that Mickey Mouse is a form of blackface, while devoting not one major exhibit to George Washington or any of the Founding Fathers.
Miranda Devine 1:11
It does teach that Benjamin Franklin was a vile slave owner who owed his discoveries to his slaves, and that Christopher Columbus was a psychopathic killer and racist, and that we live on stolen land. Meanwhile, it celebrates transgenderism, bondage, and sadomasochism in various sexually explicit exhibits. It says, illegal migrants deserve the right to vote. During the BLM riots of 2020, the Smithsonian's woke secretary, Lonnie Bunch, sent curators onto the streets to collect trash left behind by arsonists, vandals, looters and useful idiots as, quote, historical artefacts that need to be collected and saved for posterity.

How many visitors and students does Miranda say the Smithsonian influences each year?

Miranda Devine 2:01
according to the Heritage Foundation, which has been chronicling the downfall of a once great 175-year-old institution. Generations of American children have been brought up to revere the Smithsonian. yet it abuses its $1.3 billion annual budget, 62% from the taxpayer, to persuade impressionable minds that everything about America is irredeemably racist and evil and must be dismantled. And the supercilious congressional testimony this week of Smithsonian boss Anthea Hartig shows that she has no intention of changing a thing. A California transplant who once described herself as, quote, "...propped up by the cushions of whiteness and the pillows of the bourgeoisie." She has described history as, quote, "...a prime tool of social justice," and noted how, quote, "...we work to reframe the traditional celebratory narrative of U.S.
Miranda Devine 3:06
history for visitors," end quote. Grilled by Texas Republican Brandon Gill on Tuesday, she dripped with arrogance, defiance, and elitist contempt. Quote, "'Is Mickey Mouse racist?' Gill asked her. "'Mickey Mouse is not racist,' she replied.

How does the Smithsonian allegedly portray founding figures like Columbus and Franklin?

Miranda Devine 3:26
"'Well,' said Gill, "'according to one of your exhibits, Mickey Mouse represents vestiges of long-standing traditions of blackface minstrelsy.'" Would you describe that as racist, he asked. Hartig then launched into a waffling mini-dissertation of Mickey's historical trajectory to avoid the question before Gill forced her into admitting she believes that the beloved mouse is, quote, rooted in minstrelsy with certain obvious racial overturns. There was a lot more. Is it important to be polite? Gil asked her silkily. Yes, sir, she replied. Well, said Gil, your organisation references politeness as a defining characteristic of white supremacy culture. Ma'am, are you a white supremacist? "'Hmm. No, sir,' she said snootily, as if his question were absurd, when it is her museum that she has turned into an expensive laughingstock.

What examples from exhibits are cited to argue the Smithsonian promotes ‘woke’ ideology?

Miranda Devine 4:36
"'Would you say the goal of history is to be objective?' Gil asked. Hartig waffled about many goals of history.' Gill then quoted from a white supremacy document. He said, End quote. Hartig tried to feign ignorance about the document, despite the fact that the Smithsonian has adopted and promoted the Mass Action Toolkit in staff development and educational material since the start of her tenure in 2019. The screed was developed by a left-wing activist coalition, Museums as Sites for Social Action, that is dedicated to using museums as platforms for social justice, anti-racism and equity, and is funded by the DEI-obsessed Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, among others.

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