I’ve Got D.C.’s Back. Period!
James Baldwin once said: “To defend oneself against a fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” Fear is often tied to ignorance. It is Trump’s fear—fear that the illusion of white superiority will be exposed—that fuels his ignorance of America’s natural construct: racist paradigms repackaged into force-fed lies of Black incompetence, socially and politically.
Washington, DC has become, for many days now, a cesspool for Trump’s malicious deployment of over-policed violence. The push to reduce crime in large cities is not unusual, but Trump’s approach is not only racially biased—it’s reckless. He has, on his own accord, run a militia against the city itself. Unlawful vehicle checks, over-patrolling of neighborhoods, and heightened surveillance at events where Black and Brown people gather have become routine. Meanwhile, the U.S. military has been absurdly deployed not only around DC’s monuments but even outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture—a museum whose exhibits are designed to educate about white supremacy and its role in keeping America’s capitalist heart beating.
Trump’s reaction is telling: he fears the exposure of this truth. He frames it as a threat to “white culture” rather than acknowledging that this very culture (he so covets) is contributing to the country’s decay. The White House website, under his direction, has attacked marginalized communities by attempting to discredit the Smithsonian’s credibility, labeling its exhibits as biased propaganda. This attempt to portray the museum’s honest reflection on America’s racial and gender struggles as an attack on white people is not only duplicitous—it’s dangerous. Public platforms like the White House should elevate knowledge, not wage warfare against truth.
Trump often delivers these hate-filled speeches via Twitter, amplified by allies like Elon Musk. Throughout his presidency—better yet his entire life—the message is consistent: the left is tyrannical, while he positions himself as a martyr for “the American people.” It’s a grotesque inversion of reality.
On Tuesday, Trump condemned segments of the Smithsonian as “too woke” and vowed they would not be allowed. The term “woke” has long been weaponized against Black and Brown thinkers, twisted into a label of radicalism. In reality, to be woke is to see clearly—the society we live in, the history of our ancestors, and the legacies of slavery and subjugation. Being woke is not radicalism; it is enlightenment. Trump’s directive to the Smithsonian to “celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions” is an urgent plea for censorship—a redacted history, a controlled narrative that erases uncomfortable truths.
This drive to erase and rewrite is grueling, especially in the context of attacks on financial aid, government benefits, and social programs. It is an attempt to not only silence free thought but to fracture bipartisanship. History provides stark reminders: tyrants like Hitler began their campaigns with isolation, labeling, and fear-mongering. Today, Trump labels cities like DC as overrun by violence and homelessness, masking systemic racial domination as civic failure.
Same hatred. Different characters. Yet the hysteria is all the same!
It is disheartening to consider the world we are shaping for our children…one where their freedom to grow, question, and be seen is constrained by fear-driven policies. Even if Trump is not reelected, the divisions he has sown may linger for generations. We are, undeniably, a nation fractured.
To read more about this issue, check out NPR’s coverage: Trump vows to expand his review of U.S. museums. Can he do that?