Politeness Is ‘White Supremacy’? Inside the Smithsonian

Sara Cottle, Unsplash

A short exchange at a congressional hearing put America’s most famous museum on the defensive this week. Rep. Brandon Gill, a Texas Republican, questioned the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History about a document that ties basic manners to racism. The clip spread quickly online, and for good reason.

The hearing was held Tuesday before the House Oversight subcommittee on government efficiency, chaired by Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee. It carried a pointed title: “Rewriting American History.” The question on the table was whether the nation’s flagship history museum still tells America’s story with honesty and gratitude.

A Museum Caught in Its Own Words

Gill began with a simple question for the museum’s director, Dr. Anthea Hartig: Is it important to be polite? She answered yes. He then pointed to a “Mass Action Toolkit” her museum had promoted, which lists politeness as a defining mark of “white supremacy culture.”

According to the official hearing record, Gill asked whether she was a white supremacist, and Hartig said no. When he asked her to square that answer with her own museum’s document, she said she was not familiar with the passage, even though he had just read it aloud to her. The same toolkit also brands objectivity a feature of “white supremacy culture.”

The Smithsonian’s “MASS Action Toolkit” said that politeness is a “defining aspect of white supremacy culture.”

I asked the Director of the National Museum of American History if that means she’s a white supremacist.

Brandon Gill (@realBrandonGill) July 21, 2026

The strangest moment came over a cartoon. One Smithsonian exhibit described Mickey Mouse as a vestige of blackface minstrelsy, PJ Media reported. Asked whether that was racist, Hartig offered a nonanswer that quickly spread online, saying it was not for her to decide what was “problematic,” only what was “accurate.”

Gill pressed the same logic on a second point. He asked whether striving for objectivity was a goal of good history, and Hartig agreed that it was. He then noted that the very same toolkit lists objectivity among the traits of “white supremacy culture.”

Hartig insisted the museum “did not develop” the toolkit and was “not promoting any ideology.” Yet the document had been promoted under her leadership for years.

A Capture That Took Decades

None of this appeared overnight. Blaze News reported that Hartig views history as a “prime tool of social justice” and has said she wants to move the museum away from an “America First” telling of the national story.

The hearing followed a lengthy White House report released July 4 that accused the Smithsonian of extreme political activism and of presenting a radical view of American history. That report, produced by the administration’s Domestic Policy Council, ran 162 pages.

RedState noted the report concluded the institution had undergone “ideological capture” and asked whether the museum still presents America as a coherent nation worth teaching with gratitude. Because the Smithsonian draws most of its budget from taxpayers, these are not private matters. They are questions of public trust.

The report did not stop at the toolkit. It also charged the museum with what it called bias against white Americans, promotion of illegal immigration, and transgender activism, and other lawmakers at the hearing raised concerns about sexually explicit imagery in some displays.

In her own defense, Hartig told lawmakers the museum “does not take sides in America’s political debates” and follows standards of scholarship, accuracy, independence, and nonpartisanship. Those words are hard to square with the record laid out in front of her.

Why This Should Not Surprise Us

A New York Post opinion writer argued the whole spectacle exposed the foolishness of America’s woke “reckoning.” That reckoning did not begin in a museum. It moved quietly through schools, universities, newsrooms, and corporations for years while most Americans looked the other way.

We have already seen it in higher education, where Million Voices covered a civil rights complaint against the University of Washington over its transgender bathroom policies. When a worldview that rejects God and denies objective truth takes root in an institution, it does not stay contained. It spreads into the exhibits, the lesson plans, and the stories we hand to our children.

Scripture warned us about neglected foundations. “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The honest answer is that we allowed much of this to happen by treating the culture as someone else’s assignment.

Reclaiming the Story We Nearly Lost

The real lesson is not that a single museum drifted. It is that the faithful stepped back from the very places where hearts and beliefs are shaped. We gave up ground slowly, and we lost far more than most of us ever realized.

That is exactly why believers cannot retreat now. As Million Voices has argued against media attacks on faith in public life, the Christian call is to be “salt and light in every corner of society. “You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus taught. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

There is reason for hope. Million Voices has also documented a Great American Revival stirring among young people who are returning to Christ in growing numbers. Renewal in the pews can lead to renewal in the culture.

Reclaiming a nation’s story begins with Christians who refuse to stay silent. “Do not be conformed to this world,” Scripture says, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The Smithsonian hearing is both a warning and an invitation. The ground we neglected can still be won back, but only if the Church is willing to show up and take it.

As believers, we are called to pray for our leaders and our nation. Pray for wisdom for those making these decisions, and for safety and dignity for all people affected by them.

That’s where we come in.

Prayer is at the heart of how Million Voices connects faith with civic life. Our Prayer Guide: Pray for Our Government Officials By Name is a free resource designed to help individuals, families, and small groups lift up the men and women who serve in public office—across every level of government and regardless of party.

Rooted in the scriptural call to pray “for kings and all those in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1–2), the guide offers a thoughtful framework for interceding on behalf of our leaders: for wisdom in their decisions, integrity in their conduct, protection for them and their families, and a heart for serving the common good.

Whether you’re looking to deepen your personal prayer life or to gather others in praying for our nation, this guide is a meaningful place to start. Download it here: https://millionvoices.org/mv-prayer-guide-pray-for-government-officials/

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