Below is the transcript from an interview between Anonymous (in bold) and Vanessa Onyeka Ben​​​ (unbolded and italicized). This interview took place on Oct 8, 1:38 p.m.

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Anyways, let's get the interview started.​

So for my anthro class, I'm part of this small group where we’re focusing on the Smithsonian. Not only are we researching how the Trump administration is impacting the Smithsonian — since they have been removing items that they say go against American values — we’re trying to preserve items that may get removed by taking pictures. I’m sure you’re aware of what Trump and his administration have been doing to the Smithsonian. They’re planning to get more involved with the museum — which they consider woke propaganda or anything un-American. I thought it would be interesting to hear your view about this. What do you think about the Trump administration and what they're doing with the Smithsonian?​

Ho. Ho. Where do I begin? Um… may I curse here?

 

Hell yeah, say whatever you want.

Alright, here we go
 

I'm not fond of what this administration is doing to the Smithsonian. I have spent 23 years of my professional life studying how governments manipulate national memory, and now — pardon my French — but I’m so ******* livid. This is about historical integrity, institutional independence, and the role of scholarship in public life. The Smithsonian Institution has long operated under a foundational principle: that its research, exhibitions, and educational materials should be guided by evidence, peer-reviewed scholarship, and curatorial expertise — not by political pressures or ideological preferences.

 

When the administration characterizes certain exhibitions as improper or anti-American, or when it instructs the Smithsonian to remove or revise material that addresses the history of slavery, racism, or other difficult chapters of the American experience, it risks replacing scholarly rigor with a politically filtered narrative — especially for Trump’s America.

 

If the Smithsonian's independence is threatened, the public loses trust, scholarship loses integrity, and the country loses one of its strongest tools for civic understanding. It’s also frightening how the government is directly engaging in censorship of the most painful parts of our history. It is an assault on the integrity of public memory. I’ve seen authoritarian regimes do this with archives, school curricula, museums — and now it’s happening in Washington, D.C., under the banner of truth and unity. Give me a break. It’s— it’s— it’s… this is— sorry. [ … ]

 

The best I could say is that this is political vandalism. Blatantly political vandalism. I’ve read the executive orders. I’ve listened to the speeches. I’ve heard the talking points about “anti-American ideology.” And let me be absolutely clear: the only ideology being forced onto the Smithsonian right now is the administration’s own fragile, airbrushed fantasy version of American history. They’re not asking for clarity or accuracy — they’re demanding obedience. It is historical cleansing dressed up in patriotic language.

 

[Anonymous)], I have a question. What do you think the administration considers “un-American”?

​I’d say it’s pretty obvious: anything that depicts white America in a bad light is deemed anti-American. The administration doesn’t say it outright, but it’s obvious it’s meant for white American Trumpers.

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Can you elaborate on that?

Well, you see — the administration has been aiming to erase items involving slavery, American colonialism, white supremacy… all the things infamous in American history.

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But it’s so blatantly obvious that this is meant for white America — specifically maggots. I have come across those Trumpers — many of them — who victimize themselves into thinking it’s “against the white population.” 

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I recall one claiming that the Smithsonian was attempting to spread woke Marxist propaganda to get white people to hate themselves. I thought: How the **** do you come to that conclusion?

He told me his son visited the National African American Museum and he “felt ashamed.”
I thought — are you kidding me?

If you come across a portrait of the lashes of a slave committed by white enslavers, and the first thing you think is “Damn, this makes me hate being white. We should get this removed because it’s unpatriotic”  I’m not sorry when I say this: You’re utterly stupid for thinking this way, and you’re harming others at the expense of your ignorance.

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When I was a child, I was taught about the horrors of racial violence, the United States’ brutal foreign policies, authoritarian behavior. Only difference is — boy, I’m showing my age — how I was taught history was extremely whitewashed.

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And as a white man, the first feeling is shame, yes.

But it’s a shame as an American — unlike these Trumpers who narrow the shame as if it's only “about white Americans.” My sense of shame is about how we as Americans committed these grotesque acts. Our bloody history serves as a reminder of what we should do better — which sadly is the opposite direction I see this administration and some Americans taking.

I hope you understand what I’m getting at.

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No, I completely understand where you’re coming from.

And to go off that — Trump supporters have accused me of being an “unpatriotic liberal self-hating white guy,” all because I’m doing my job and reporting how history actually works. It’s genuinely frightening what they consider real patriotism or “Americanism.” I’ve even seen people celebrating Trump’s efforts to censor the Smithsonian on my Facebook. One comment — truly brain-hemorrhage-inducing — claimed Trump was “bringing patriotism back to our country.” Your mother must have dropped you as a baby if you think that.

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Let me say this clearly: patriotism that depends on deleting evidence is not patriotism — it’s insecurity. And insecurity fits this administration, and their cult, perfectly. If we let the government dictate what history is allowed to say, then we've already lost the battle for an honest, functioning democracy.

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Is that all you have to offer? Do you have any other questions for me?

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Don’t worry, that’s all the questions I have for today. Thank you for your time.

And thank you for having me.

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I’d say I’ve learned a lot just from this conversation, [Anonymous].

Yeah, thanks for having me over for a chit-chat. And if you have any more questions after the call, you have my email and my number, so just let me know.

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Yeah, thanks [Anonymous].

One more thing — I find it amazing that your group is taking part in such a powerful effort to preserve history. I truly commend you and your peers. It gives me hope that people in your generation are willing to fight against this form of tyranny. I’m wishing you all the best with your project.

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Thanks [Anonymous]. Have a good day.

You too.

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Bye.

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