The National Archives’ racism task force said in a report that its own Rotunda — which houses the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights is an example of “structural racism.”
The report, according to Fox News, attacked the Founding Fathers as “wealthy White men in the nation’s founding while marginalizing BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and other People of Color], women, and other communities.”
The task force, which was established after George Floyd’s death, suggested ways to “reimagine the Rotunda” including “dance or performance art in the space that invites dialogue about the ways that the United States has mythologized the founding era.”
The report said there should also be “trigger warnings” in the Rotunda next to the founding documents to “forewarn audiences of content that may cause intense physiological and psychological symptoms.”
“Providing an advisory notice to users gives us an opportunity to mitigate harm and contextualize the records,” the report reads. “It creates a space to share with the public our ultimate goals for reparative description, demonstrate our commitment to the process, and address any barriers that we may face in achieving these goals (i.e., the size and scope of the Catalog and the ever-evolving knowledge we gain regarding what is harmful).”
Fox News reported:
The report was completed in April and released this month but has so far flown under the media radar. The task force claims that structural racism “unequivocally impacts” how National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) employees interact with each other, customers and the historical records themselves.
The task force’s report also calls for a change to language on OurDocuments.gov — a website on American “milestone documents” such as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence — to be less celebratory of historically impactful Americans, such as former President Thomas Jefferson.
“OurDocuments.gov features transcripts and historical context of ‘100 milestone documents of American history’ but often uses adulatory and excessive language to document the historical contributions of White, wealthy men,” the report reads before taking aim at Jefferson.
“For example, a search of Thomas Jefferson in OurDocuments.gov brings up 24 results. He is described in this sample lesson plan as a ‘visionary’ who took ‘vigorous action’ to strengthen the ‘will of the nation to expand westward,’” the report continues.
“The plan does not mention that his policy of westward expansion forced Native Americans off their ancestral land, encouraged ongoing colonial violence, and laid the groundwork for further atrocities like the Trail of Tears,” it added.
Additionally, the report calls for “the creation of safe spaces in every NARA facility” and says NARA has “a responsibility to eliminate racist language in archival descriptions and revise the policies and practices that led to it.”
“With Democrats controlling every lever of our government, these efforts have only become more flagrant and pervasive. No institution, agency or classroom is off limits,” Cassie Smedile, executive director of America Rising told Fox News in an email. “The American people deserve to be made fully aware of the radical Left’s schemes, and we’ll continue to expose them.”
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