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-Editorial
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, experts and advocates discussed at an American Community Media panel how the nation’s history is remembered and represented. Speakers emphasized the importance of preserving diverse narratives, particularly those of communities historically marginalized in mainstream accounts.
Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of JANM and chair of the International Board of Amnesty International, highlighted the role of museums and ethnic media in documenting experiences that might otherwise be overlooked. She described these institutions as “holders of memory,” noting their responsibility to preserve historical accuracy and to reflect the nation’s diversity.
“Who gets to decide what this country remembers? Who gets to decide what it forgets, or what it erases?” Burroughs asked. She cited JANM’s work documenting the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, when more than 125,000 people were forcibly removed from their homes and imprisoned without due process. “Our work ensures that history is not forgotten and, importantly, that it never happens again,” she said.
Burroughs said museums face pressures to alter exhibits or avoid politically sensitive histories, often framed as efforts to maintain neutrality. She said these pressures reflect broader societal debates over who controls historical narratives and collective memory.
Margaret Huang, senior fellow at The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Human Rights and former president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, spoke about the importance of challenging official narratives and preserving the histories of marginalized communities. Drawing on her own experiences growing up in East Tennessee, Huang said she only learned about critical historical events—including Reconstruction, Japanese American incarceration, and the Civil Rights Movement—when she attended college.
“I was so stunned that this was part of U.S. history that I had never learned,” Huang said. She credited that realization with inspiring her career-long commitment to examining false narratives and elevating stories often excluded from official platforms.
Huang also addressed Confederate memorials, noting that many were erected decades after the Civil War, often during periods of resistance to civil rights progress. She said more than 2,000 monuments across the country continue to commemorate individuals who fought against the United States. Huang highlighted local initiatives, including activist Michelle Browder’s work in Montgomery, Alabama, honoring enslaved women subjected to 19th-century medical experiments. Browder’s memorial recognizes Betsy, Anarka, and Lucy, and her organization uses proceeds to fund mobile reproductive healthcare across Alabama. Huang called the project “an incredible way of lifting the challenges to women’s reproductive healthcare while also making sure we don’t forget the sacrifices and contributions of the women who enabled that practice to develop.”
Journalist and author Ray Suarez discussed federal efforts to influence historical narratives, including education, public monuments, and museum exhibits. He described these efforts as a “power play” that prioritizes certain narratives over others, often at the expense of nonwhite experiences. Suarez emphasized the multicultural foundations of the United States, noting that the Revolutionary War included contributions from English, Dutch, Scottish, Irish, African, and Native American participants.
“Whether you want to talk about the Revolutionary War itself, we must remember that America has been multicultural since day one,” Suarez said. He criticized terms such as “legacy Americans” or “heritage Americans” that have appeared in media and political discourse as tools to define who is considered authentically American. Suarez also cited instances of contested historical interpretation, including the removal of National Park Service texts at presidential sites tied to slavery.
“The last 50 years of reconsidering what American history really is, and who gets to tell it, are being challenged,” Suarez said. “It’s essential to keep hold of the facts and remember the multicultural reality of this nation.”
Anneshia Hardy, executive director of Alabama Values, said the upcoming 250th anniversary presents both an opportunity and a challenge in how the nation’s history is told. Hardy described efforts she considers attempts to narrow historical narratives and limit the voices included in public understanding of history, particularly in the South, where local and national institutions influence school curricula, museum exhibits, and public discourse.
“Much of my work is rooted in Alabama, where there is not a single state-funded museum documenting the full history of slavery,” Hardy said. She added that the absence reflects “a long-standing refusal to publicly reckon with how wealth, power, and political authority were built.”
Hardy said the challenge goes beyond presenting facts, encompassing questions of meaning and representation. She said initiatives like Alabama Values’ This Is America project bring together historians, political scientists, journalists, and community storytellers to provide a fuller and more inclusive account of U.S. history.
“The goal is not to produce a single sanitized story of the nation,” Hardy said. “It is to tell the full story, honestly, rigorously, and in community, and to help people situate their lived experiences within the broader historical and political context.”
Hardy also noted the importance of community media and grassroots organizations in preserving historical memory, particularly when larger institutions retreat from contentious or complex aspects of history. She said efforts to shape narratives often intersect with contemporary political and social issues, including anti-immigrant sentiment, anti-Blackness, and the persistence of white nationalist rhetoric.
“The whitewashing of history is not a passive act,” Hardy said. “It is an active political strategy that narrows who is seen as fully American and whose experiences are recognized in our collective memory.”
