Learning From American History

Donald Trump's war on diversity programs include erasing aspects of Black history, LGBTQIA+ history and the darker aspects of American history that do not align with Trump's right wing ideology.

Some White Americans feel threatened by the teaching of aspects of American history that deal with slavery, Jim Crow, American imperialism, and systemic racism.

When we teach about slavery, Jim Crow, and the darker side of American history, it's not meant to be a condemnation of all White people. All people and nationalities have some dark side to their histories.

Americans need to learn about the darker side of American history for the same reason that German and Japanese people need to learn about the Holocaust, the Rape of Nanking, and other war crimes that their countries committed during World War II.

We learn from history so we don't make the same mistakes again.

Here is a video on how I made this cartoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hWfqHcjtIo

REFERENCES
"A look at what's behind the efforts to reshape how American history is taught" by PBS NewsHour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZgM_o0hYfY

"The Trump Administration’s Assaults on Black History" by Trey Walk for Human Rights Watch
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/04/10/trump-administrations-assaults-blac…

"Donald Trump’s War on History" by David Corn for Mother Jones
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/donald-trump-war-on-histor…

"Historians alarmed as Trump seeks to rewrite US story for 250th anniversary" by Robert Tait for The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/04/trump-us-250th-annivers…

"Statements from GLAAD, Stonewall Inn on the Removal of the Word 'Transgender' from the Stonewall National Monument Websites" by GLAAD
https://glaad.org/releases/statements-on-the-removal-of-word-transgende…

"The Quiet Deletion of Black History Within Federal Agencies — and the Fight to Stop It" by Brandon Tensley for Capitol B
https://capitalbnews.org/trump-smithsonian-tubman-dei-order-erases-blac…

"Trump’s American History Revolution. As the 250th anniversary of America’s independence approaches, the president is moving to put his stamp on how the nation’s story is told, in Washington and beyond." by Jennifer Schuessler for The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/arts/trump-american-history-250th.ht…