Black churches back embattled Smithsonian African American history museum after Trump’s order

As he does one day each month, the Rev. Robert Turner hit the road from his home in Baltimore last week and traveled — on foot — 43 miles (69 kilometers) to Washington.

He arrived by evening on April 16 outside the White House, carrying a sign that called for for “Reparations Now.”

This time, Turner added another stop on his long day’s journey — the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Turner knelt in prayer and laid a wreath at the entrance of the museum in support of its mission, which incurred President Donald Trump’s criticism alongside other Smithsonian Institution sites. In a March 27 executive order, Trump alleged that Smithsonian exhibits had disparaged the nation’s history via a “divisive, race-centered ideology.”

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Turner wanted to show support for the museum, which opened in 2016 and received its 10 millionth visitor in 2023. The museum tells the history of chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation and its lingering effects, but it also highlights the determination, successes and contributions of Black Americans and Black institutions.

“I laid my wreath down there to show solidarity with the museum and the history that they present every day,” said Turner, pastor of Empowerment Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore.

He said his church has committed to becoming a museum member, and he’s encouraged church members to do the same. Membership costs start at $25 per year, according to an online form on the museum site.

His church is not alone, as other predominantly Black congregations are taking similar steps.

Clergy calls for support

Turner said he got the idea from the Rev. Otis Moss III of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, whose church also joined the museum and who urged members to do the same. “For only $25 a year, you can protect Black history,” Moss told his church.

Two other Black pastors told The Associated Press they also supported the effort.

One was the Rev. Jacqui J. Lewis, senior minister at Middle Church in New York City — home to a multiracial congregation affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

“We belonged to the museum since its opening, and we just made another donation to them in light of this administration’s policies,” she told the AP. The gift, she said, was a $1,000 “Easter Love donation.”

Bishop Timothy Clarke of the First Church of God in Columbus, Ohio, said he would be emulating Moss in making an appeal to his predominantly African American congregation.

“Our grandson is in DC on a field trip,” Clarke said in an email. “The highlight of his trip has been the visit to the Museum.”

Trump’s order didn’t specifically talk about budget cuts, though it tasked Vice President JD Vance, a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents by virtue of his office, to lead the effort to purge “improper ideology” from such institutions. He pledged to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.” Critics say he’s trying to force a distorted national narrative that glosses over slavery and other historical wrongs.

Pastor marching for reparations

Turner said he has been making his walk to Washington one day for each of the past 31 months. He’s calling for the U.S. to make reparations for the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow segregation and other systemic suffering inflicted on Black people, ranging from housing and medical discrimination to mass incarceration. When he was previously a pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he similarly demonstrated for reparations for the 1921 race massacre.

Turner said when he arrived last week outside the White House, a crowd of visitors was milling about, and one child who noticed his sign asked a parent, “What is reparations?”

“That to me is a perfect manifestation about why we need to be teaching more true history of America, and not taking away certain subjects because they make people feel uncomfortable,” Turner said.

Moss, in a social media post, held out hope that the museum could continue its current course, noting that Vance is just one member of the board.

Trinity has long been socially active with a wide array of community outreaches, and Moss describes it as “a church that is unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.”

Former President Barack Obama had been a member of Trinity but resigned during the 2008 campaign, citing the “divisive” statements of its previous pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, while affirming the Black Church tradition of speaking out against injustice.

Democrats criticize executive order

The African American museum, one of 21 Smithsonian museums, has also seen a recent shake-up in leadership. Shanita Beckett, who was previously the head of operations at the museum, has been widely reported to be serving as interim director.

Kevin Young, a poet and scholar of African American history, left his role as museum director in early April, following a leave of absence, according to a notice to staff. The museum did not return the AP’s requests for comment this week.

On Friday, Democrats on the House Administration Committee, which has oversight over the Smithsonian Institution, expressed concern over the executive order in a letter addressed to Vance.

“This flagrant attempt to erase Black history is unacceptable and must be stopped,” said the letter signed by Reps. Joseph Morelle of New York, Terri Sewell of Alabama and Norma Torres of California.

“The attempt to paper over elements of American history is both cowardly and unpatriotic,” the letter said.

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Associated Press writers David Crary and Aaron Morrison contributed to this report.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.