What’s so frightening about Black history that makes Trump try to whitewash it? | Opinion
Teaching truth
Re: the Aug. 21 Miami Herald story, “‘Rewrite History.’ Miami historians alarmed about review of Smithsonian exhibits.” President Trump wants the Smithsonian museums to whitewash history, hiding the atrocities committed against Black people through slavery, lynchings and the stripping of their human rights. Removing the historical truth and the pain Black people experienced makes us no better than North Korea, Russia and other dictator-led countries around the world.
The Smithsonian and our public schools have First Amendment rights to teach, display and discuss the truth about our past. Our society is morally obligated to teach truthful Black history to our children. As Miami historian Marvin Dunn asked, “What is so frightening about talking about pain, which is a part of this country’s growth?”
If educators and museum curators are afraid to teach Black history, then we should not teach about the thousands of families who lost their sons during the Vietnam War and we should cover the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. so that visitors do not see our pain.
Mayade Ersoff,
Palmetto Bay
Revising history
President Trump has managed, again, to open old wounds with his denunciation of the Smithsonian Institute for displays of “how bad slavery was,” implying that slavery wasn’t so “bad” and maybe some form of it ought to be reinstated.
His lamentation recalls the justification uttered by Gov. Ron DeSantis two years ago, when revising the state educational curriculum, that slavery was favorable because it provided slaves with skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.” DeSantis doubled down on that dubious proposition by noting that it was promulgated after the state “got a lot of scholars together to do a lot of standards and a lot of different things.”
The president’s attack on the Smithsonian portends more than a rebuke to a museum; it’s a clarion call to his MAGA movement to undertake similar efforts to bury slavery’s history at educational facilities and other institutions. This is reminiscent of George Orwell’s protagonist Winston Smith, in the classic dystopian novel “1984,” whose job in the Ministry of Truth is to eradicate disfavored individuals and other matters while rewriting the annals of history.
Marshall H. Tanick,
Naples
Local hero
I was truly saddened to learn of Bill Cullom’s passing. He gave so much time, effort and soul to the betterment of South Florida. Many residents do not realize how many civic leaders Bill mentored and inspired. I was certainly one of them.
I became active in the Greater Miami Chamber at about the same time Bill became that organization’s CEO. He effectively envisioned and executed a plan to morph the chamber from little more than a business card exchange into a leading proponent of solutions to the challenges facing Miami during the last two decades of the 20th century and the opening days of the 21st.
Leading the charge of many chamber volunteers and other community stalwarts, he turned the chamber’s attention to, among other things, the scourge of homelessness, the “We Will Rebuild” campaign following Hurricane Andrew, international business, tourism and transportation infrastructure.
With Bill’s guidance and support, I worked to bring the U.S. Southern Command to Miami, commissioning the USS Miami submarine and creating the Task Force on Ethics in Business and Government (in response to Time Magazine’s assertion of “Paradise Lost” in 1981).
Don Slesnick,
Coral Gables
Inspirational man
I thank the Miami Herald for highlighting Jose Lopez, a valued member of our Lighthouse of Broward team, in the Aug. 19 profile by reporter Siena Duncan, “He lost his sight in Berlin. Now he helps others find independence in Florida.” Jose is an inspiration to all of us, touching the lives of so many.
He is an outstanding example of how individuals with specialized rehabilitation, life skills training and employment opportunities can enhance the independence, productivity and dignity of adults and children who are blind or visually impaired. That’s what we do at the private, nonprofit Lighthouse, providing comprehensive services free to our clients.
I hope that anyone touched by Jose’s story and the Lighthouse mission will consider donating to help us light the way daily for blind and visually impaired children and adults. To learn more, visit our website at https://www.lhob.org/.
Timothy Moffatt,
board chair,
Lighthouse of Broward,
Fort Lauderdale
Who’s responsible?
Reading Jill Lawrence’s Aug. 15 online op-ed, “Of Course Trump wants to flex on DC. Where are the Democrats to stop him?,” I’m struck by the dangerous assumption that stopping Trump’s cruel and illegal activities are the responsibility of the minority party. I disagree.
Florida’s two U.S. Senators, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, are members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversee ICE and U.S. Customs Border Protection. They should answer for the warrantless mass roundups by masked agents, the concentration camps and the undisclosed inmate transfers.
USAID supported education, health, the environment and democratic principles in more than 100 countries during the last two decades, saving perhaps 92 million lives. The agency was destroyed in January. My Congresswoman sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, which oversees USAID; her response was that the agency had “lost its course” because it funded some LGBT programs. Is that it? What about the good USAID accomplished?
Those individuals sit comfortably in the majority, but they should not be absolved of their constitutional duty. So far, they have failed. Hold them accountable.
Thomas Carsey,
Palmetto Bay
The Miami model
Recently, President Trump launched an initiative against crime in our nation’s capital, suggesting that if it’s successful, it might expand to other cities. He attributed the crime in our cities largely to homelessness and what he termed “the no cash bond policy that lets criminals go free...”
Trump is wrong. Overwhelming evidence suggests that homelessness is magnified by our society’s failure to effectively address poverty, mental illness and using our jails as inadequate, ineffective behavioral health providers.
If the Trump administration is serious about addressing crime and homelessness in our cities, it would be well advised to study and adopt the lessons Miami learned when, in the 1980s, an estimated 10,000 homeless people lived under our bridges and on our streets. After the Miami Herald and advocates raised the community’s consciousness, civic leaders addressed it.
The Homeless Trust was founded to implement a comprehensive program, funded through a hotel bed tax. Short- and long-term solutions included Homeless Assistance Centers, funding for community-based mental health and drug treatment programs, long-term affordable housing and an innovative jail diversion program, which continues to this day. As a result, Miami’s homeless population has been dramatically reduced.
Arthur Fournier,
professor emeritus,
family medicine and community health,
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine,
Miami
Arts funding
The arts are not a luxury, they are the pulse of a community. They teach our children to dream beyond their circumstances and to find beauty and meaning in a world that exists beyond their own. They bring us together across cultures and generations, reminding us of our shared humanity.
In Miami-Dade, the arts are also a powerful economic engine generating $2.1 billion and employing more than 31,000 people. The Adrienne Arsht Center alone employs 1,000 Miami artists annually and generates 11,500 jobs through its 400 annual events. Nearly a third of Arsht’s audience comes from outside our region, fueling tourism and pride in our county, with an impact of $125 million to the local economy. Our arts organizations, large and small, need us now. Public funding for the arts is essential but is at risk amid tighter budgets.
Attend performances. Advocate for funding. Invest through donations to the extent that you are able. When we invest in the arts, we invest in what Miami is and what Miami will become.
Richard C. Milstein,
chair,
Adrienne Arsht Center,
Miami
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 11:02 AM.