Weaponizing memory
Controlling public culture is essential to the consolidation of fascist power. This is central to the daily functioning of the Trump administration. The most recent example has been the attack on the Smithsonian Museums. Trump has decided to replace all exhibits that are deemed divisive” or “ideological” with descriptions deemed as “historical” and “constructive”.
Claiming “The Smithsonian is out of control – where everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was.” Trump released a list what must be eradicated from public display. It includes
A picture of a Pride flag
Featured programs for the planned National Museum of the American Latino
Portraits of Dr. Anthony Fauci and a transgender Statue of Liberty
An exhibit inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture
These efforts are part of a the authoritarian play book. They are more than an effort at controlling what we think. They are about celebrating the use of violence as an essential tool for preserving power.
The use of sophisticated methods of propaganda techniques by the Nazi government to manipulate people and protect power is well documented. As a recent article in The Guardian noted, “A people who cannot remember their past are a people who cannot resist a fascist future.”
Controlling memory for fascist ends requires eradicating those aspects of that past that emphasize our capacity to challenge authorities and pursue justice. At the same time, it provides a justification for the most violent aspects of our history.
The Trump administration embraces this principle fully. Over the last six months they have been systematically destroying the sources of our collective past that celebrate the best of our cultural aspirations. Attacking universities, defunding public broadcasting, intimidating news sources, renaming battle ships, and making up statistics are all essential to rewriting history in ways that emphasize the importance of one group of people, white Christian American men, and the insignificance of everyone else.
This celebration of the white male perspective serves three vital functions.
First, it rests on a sense of grievance. White men are cast as the victims of an out-of-control federal government that has promoted the welfare of Blacks, Women, Latinos, and LGBTQ people over their own security. This sense of grievance is fed by high-profile efforts to fire or arrest disobedient women, people of color, and LGBTQ leaders.
Second, it justifies violence against everyone who is not a white, male, Christian, American. The greater the sense of victimization, the deeper the justification for violence against those who are deemed inferior and undeserving.
Third, it simultaneously destroys memories of resistance to dehumanization while recasting violence as patriotism.
This can be easily understood in the latest efforts of the administration to weaponize the military against civilians. In an executive order issued August 25, 2025, the president expanded the framework for the National Guard to take a larger role in domestic law enforcement by creating special units for “quelling civil disturbances.” This order includes the creation of a task force, led by the architect of our the most brutal immigration policies, Stephen Miller, to create an online portal for “Americans with law enforcement or other relevant backgrounds and experience” to apply to join federal agents in enforcing Mr. Trump’s “crime emergency” order in the District of Columbia. In short this creates an official group of bounty hunters.
The history of the U.S. government encouraging individual white men to engage in violence against those they fear is long and bloody. From the bounties placed on indigenous peoples, slave catchers, lynch mobs, “stand your ground” laws, and the Proud Boys, elite power depends on the willingness of white men in particular to carry out violence against others. This most recent executive order calls unleashes that historic impulse.
Understanding the full truth of our history means acknowledging both the essential role of violence in our culture and the efforts and individual acts of courage that have pushed us toward a more human future. Speaking truths, in all their complexities, is essential to creating a future that embraces all of us.