Smithsonian must add a Latino museum now
Virtually every date, place and event that Americans are taught about the nation’s history could be expanded, enlivened and enriched by the inclusion of Latinos.
We’ve been here from the beginning, and that’s far earlier than most realize.
The quest to help more people understand this history is embedded in the push to pass legislation to establish the National Museum of the American Latino as a part of the Smithsonian and to construct it on the National Mall.
Doing so will take an act of Congress and preferably this Congress.
A Senate committee unanimously passed the House bill supporting the museum onto the full Senate on Dec. 3. The House passed it in July.
The fervent hope is that President Donald Trump will sign the legislation before he leaves office. If not, backers will have to restart gathering sponsors and cosponsors with a new Congress. If successful, a 2031 opening remains feasible.
Playing the long game, exhibiting the tenacity, patience and resilience for this lengthy pursuit is indicative of the Latino experience in North America.
In 1994, a task force formed by the Smithsonian Institution issued a damning critique.
Titled “Willful Neglect,” the subsequent report noted not only the lack of exhibits that showcased Latino contributions, it also remarked on the dearth of Latinos within the staff ranks and on advisory boards.
“Many Smithsonian officials project the impression that Latino history and culture are somehow not a legitimate part of the American experience,” the report said.
Recommendations were made at the time including establishing Latino museums under the auspices of the Smithsonian and located on the National Mall.
At the time, there were 25 million Latinos in the U.S.
There are nearly 60 million now.
Subsequent criticism came in 2018 with a report that chronicled how little progress had been made.
The Smithsonian hit back, listing the many new hires and acquisitions since 1994. But it also acknowledged, “We recognize our work is not complete; there is still much to do. Latinas and Latinos have played foundational roles in building our nation and shaping national culture. These stories of achievement, adversity, scientific discovery and exploration, and migration and immigration are quintessentially American.”
One larger step forward is already in the works. The Molina Family Latino Gallery, a 4,500-square-foot space in the National Museum of American History, is expected to open in 2022.
Experience proves that negating or ignoring truths from the past is a grave mistake and a strong case for a new museum.
Take for instance, recent debates around the display of Confederate statues. Too much of the conversation, on all sides, came from misinformation about the roles of these Confederate figures as well as when and why many were initially memorialized. Often, it was during backlash against the civil rights movement.
Raul “Danny” Vargas, chairman of Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, points to an even grimmer outcome of historical ignorance. He notes El Paso in 2019, when a gunman went to a Walmart hunting Mexicans. He killed 23 people.
“He assassinated, in cold blood, innocent men and women because he thought they were invaders coming north of the border,” said Vargas. “But actually, that community has probably looked like it does for hundreds of years.”
Some might grouse at the idea of another specialized museum highlighting one ethnic or racial group. But the Latino museum might not be necessary if scholars, historians, textbook authors and any number of stewards of the national memory had been more mindful and diligent to truth.
Understanding the Latino role in American history isn’t about reciting a few names and dates or splicing in bits and pieces to integrate stories we’ve missed for generations.
Ours is a complicated story of migrations that are on- going, people who never had to migrate to these lands and threads that reach back hundreds of years, far more diverse than the often thought of Mexico and Central America.
It’s also a story of discrimination. Latinos have been despised, kept out of schools and public places with signage declaring “No Dogs, Negroes, Mexicans.” And at other points in history, we’ve been pressured to align with the dominant culture, to deny ethnicity.
All of it deserves acknowledgment, research and the massive archival bandwidth of the Smithsonian.