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Radio Atlantic

Black History Month Is Different This Year

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

Politics, Society & Culture, News

4.3 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2026

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Trump administration is trying to sanitize U.S. history by removing mentions of slavery on historic monuments, scrubbing words such as “oppression” from government websites, and obscuring the legacy of Black American heroes. Last summer, the president personally criticized the Smithsonian for focusing too much on “how bad slavery was.” The Atlantic’s Clint Smith and Adam Harris argue that if the federal government won’t reckon with the nation’s past, it might be time for a different approach to understanding Black history.  --- Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.1

Over the many years of raising kids in D.C. public schools, I've experienced Black History Month the way many Americans do.

0:42.0

I've helped my kids make poster boards, and as they got older PowerPoints, celebrating the achievements of many famous Black Americans.

0:49.5

Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Black History Month celebrations tend to follow what the Atlantic's Adam Harris calls a formula.

1:01.1

But this year might call for something more radical.

1:13.6

I'm Hannah Rosen. This is Radio Atlantic.

1:17.2

Here is a missive from President Trump that typifies his attitude about black history.

1:22.6

Quote, the Smithsonian is, all caps, out of control.

1:33.3

Where everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was, he posted over the summer.

1:42.3

The president has restored Confederate names to army bases and removed lessons and images about slavery from federally funded institutions.

1:48.1

Well, the fight to restore a slavery exhibit in Philadelphia, it is ramping up after it was dismantled last week.

1:49.4

Just this week, a federal judge ordered the administration to restore panels at what's

1:54.2

known as the president's house in Philadelphia that discussed, quote, the dirty business

1:59.0

of slavery.

2:00.7

The federal judge wrote,

2:02.2

An agency cannot arbitrarily decide what is true

2:05.5

based on its own whims or the whims of the new leadership.

2:09.7

Today we talked to two of my Atlantic colleagues,

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