A walk through a Smithsonian museum explores the complexity of America's past

In an afternoon's walk through ground zero of Americana—the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History—objects around every corner invite one question: What could possibly be more American than this?

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There's the enormous Star-Spangled Banner in all its timeworn glory, Dorothy's ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” and totems of achievement throughout. There are also testaments to pain and cruelty. What could be more American than a reckoning with the nation’s sins, as illustrated by shackles representing slavery and photos of Japanese Americans confined to detention camps in World War II? In myriad ways, the museum explores “the complexity of our past,” in accord with its mission statement.

President Donald Trump wants a simpler tale told. He wants this and the other Smithsonian museums to mirror American pride, power and accomplishment without all the darkness, and he threatens to hold back money if they don't get with that programme. On social media, Trump complained that at the Smithsonian museums, which are free to visit and get most of their money from the government, “everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been - Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”