總統和世界上最大博物館的較量

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特朗普沒有一周不制造話題，上周他招惹的對象是美國著名博物館Smithsonian。在講述這個新聞的時候，我們先看路透社的原文報道：

Trump targets the Smithsonian again, says it focuses too much on how bad slavery was

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday he will pressure the Smithsonian Institution - a premier museum, education and research complex for U.S. history and culture - to accept his demands, just like he did with colleges and universities by threatening to cut federal funding.

In a social media post, Trump complained about what he called excessive focus on "how bad Slavery was."

"I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made," Trump said on Truth Social.

The Smithsonian, which was established in 1846 and includes 21 museums and galleries and the National Zoo, had no immediate comment. Most of its museums are in Washington, D.C.

The White House said last week it will lead an internal review of some Smithsonian museums after Trump earlier this year accused it of spreading "anti-American ideology" and raised alarm among civil rights advocates.

When asked if Trump would threaten funding cuts to the Smithsonian based on the findings, a White House official said "President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable."

Trump wrote: "The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where 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."

The Smithsonian receives most of its budget from the U.S. Congress but is independent of the government in decision-making. Civil rights advocates say Trump's administration is undoing decades of social progress and undermining the acknowledgment of critical phases of American history.

Racial justice group Black Lives Matter said on X that Trump's post showed that he wanted to lock the country in a "fairy tale" and deny the atrocities of slavery.

Trump has made threats to cut federal funding of top U.S. educational institutions, citing pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Last month, the government settled its probes with Columbia University, which agreed to pay $221 million, and Brown University, which said it will pay $50 million. Both institutions accepted certain government demands. Talks to settle with Harvard University are ongoing.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese, Richard Chang, Rod Nickel and Michael Perry

去過美國首都華盛頓DC的朋友們，尤其是帶小孩去的，Smithsonian(史密森尼)博物館是個繞不開的景點。它其實不是一個單一的博物館，而是一個龐大的博物館和研究機構綜合體，被稱為“史密森尼學會”（Smithsonian Institution）。它堪稱世界上最大的博物館和教育研究機構聯合體。這個系列博物館的創始人是詹姆斯·史密森（James Smithson），一位英國科學家，雖然他從未去過美國，但對美國有一種天生的好感，在他的遺囑中，他請求把自己的全部財產遺贈給美國，用于在華盛頓特區建立一個以他的名字命名的機構，“為了增加和傳播知識”。對于接不接受這筆錢，美國政府還曾有過爭議，但最終還是在1846年成立了史密森尼學會。如今，這個系列博物館擁有超過1.54億件藏品（2023年數據），僅1%左右公開展出，可想而知，這是個多么龐大的文化遺產，也是美國人引以為榮的美國物質和精神世界的象征。

這篇報道的關鍵詞是woke, anti-American ideology, fairy tale，關鍵的句子是特朗普說的這句話："The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where 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."

這句話也是他瞄準史密森尼博物館的原因。我把他這段話的中文意思大致寫一下：史密森尼失控了，在那里所討論的每一件事情都在說我們國家有多糟，奴隸制有多壞，那些被踐踏的人有多不堪；而對于成功，對于光明，對于未來，他們卻只字不提。

很顯然，特朗普認為，在這個美國最大的博物館群中，回避了對美國、美國夢、美國精神的弘揚，反倒是對美國的陰暗面，如奴隸制、種族、覺醒等問題津津樂道。

當然，反對的聲音也不絕于耳，說特朗普此舉是對于已經取得的社會進步的一種倒退，說之前那種把美國描繪成童話世界的敘事是在為這個國家的黑暗歷史遮羞。

目前，特朗普瞄準史密森尼博物館的舉動才邁出第一步，即去函要求做出解釋和整改，以及在社交媒體上制造話題，引起公眾討論，讓此話題發酵，接下去（如果不奏效的話），他將采取針對之前幾個著名大學相同的策略，即收回、削減政府撥款（哥大，布朗大學目前已經低頭，哈佛還在談）。史密森尼既不是純粹意義上的政府公辦機構，也不是完全的私人所有，而是一個獨特的混合體，可以把它理解為國家所有，公私合營（其董事會成員包括美國副總統、最高法院首席大法官、參議院和眾議院的議員等國家頭面人物）。其中，國家每年撥款占其總收入的2/3，由于該博物館大部分都是免費向公眾開放的，巨大的維持經費對于其存續和發展都必不可少。可以想見，如果政府收回撥款，博物館斷難維持。

我估計，史密森尼最終會遵從特朗普政府的意志，畢竟，政府掌管著錢袋子，除非你不要這筆錢（這不可能）。對于這屆政府來說，它們敘事中的美國，必須是高揚美國主旋律的，當他們認為作為美國夢的展廳的史密森尼博物館竟然不展現這些主旋律，反而是媒孽其短，那就是叔可忍，嫂不可忍。

這再次證明了：沒有所謂的客觀歷史，只有一段時期內占主導話語權的歷史敘述。

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