The Smithsonian said Saturday that it would update an exhibit at the National Museum of American History to reflect all impeachment proceedings in U.S. history after a placard was removed last month.
“As the keeper of memory for the nation, it is our privilege and responsibility to tell accurate and complete histories,” the Smithsonian said in a statement.
Waffling is just going to piss everyone off. Were they just hedging their bets or what? The ‘we’re just renovating it’ justification is somewhat suspicious, as museum objects/displays removed for whatever reason usually have a note indicating their removal and why, and aren’t just spirited off into the night.
But it also sounds like this was a plaque and not an actual object associated with an exhibition? So I don’t know, they had to know people were going to notice and be upset by it. I might be over-sensitized to it, but a lot of this sounds like ass covering to me. Maybe it’s because they were worried and trying to save their own hides. But we desperately fucking need institutions like this to not just fetch their fainting chairs as soon as the right wing outrage machine farts in their direction.