Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) challenged the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Tuesday over an exhibit linking Mickey Mouse’s origins to blackface minstrelsy, accusing the museum of injecting politics into American history.
Gill asked museum director Anthea Hartig whether Mickey Mouse was racist, citing an exhibit that describes the character as containing “vestiges of longstanding traditions of blackface minstrelsy” during the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency’s hearing on the Smithsonian. The hearing follows a White House report that argued the Smithsonian Institution had abandoned objective scholarship in favor of progressive activism.
“Mickey Mouse is not racist,” Hartig replied, but said historians have documented that the character’s early origins are rooted in minstrel traditions. Pressed by Gill, she said it was her responsibility to present “what’s accurate,” not determine what is “problematic.”
The dispute centers on the wall label over the 1928 Steamboat Willie cartoon, which reads:
“Mickey Mouse debuted as the deckhand ‘Steamboat Willie’ in 1928, amidst a rising anxiety felt by many that modern living and city life were eroding family and community ties and loosening moral codes … But the new character’s outsized facial features, white gloves, and trickster temperament were vestiges of longstanding traditions of blackface minstrelsy.”
Gill also questioned Hartig about internal Smithsonian materials discussing “white supremacy culture” and the museum’s sale of “Latina Power” merchandise, arguing the examples reflect a broader ideological shift at the federally funded institution. Hartig maintained the Smithsonian strives to be objective and does not promote any political ideology.
“We strive to be objective and nonpartisan,” Hartig said, while disputing Gill’s characterization of the document and maintaining that the Smithsonian “did not develop” the toolkit and is “not promoting any ideology.”
Gill also repeatedly questioned museum director Anthea Hartig about a “Mass Action Toolkit” circulated within the Smithsonian, asking whether it was appropriate for the museum to promote materials that characterize objectivity as part of “white supremacy culture.”
According to the report, the “Mass Action Toolkit,” was an effort to “truly transform the museum space” that “privileges dominant Western ideals of race, class, and gender” and is linked “with white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, abuse of labor, colonization, imperialist theft of art and artifacts, destruction or absencing of alternative ways of interpreting or representing art and artifacts, structural racism and other oppressions.”
The Smithsonian has failed in its mission and must be reformed
Republicans, led by Subcommittee Chairman Tim Burchett (R-TN), pointed to Hartig’s past statements describing history as “a prime tool of social justice” and criticized the museum’s emphasis on race, gender, immigration, and economic inequality.
“The Museum has strayed from the original purpose for which it exists and receives federal taxpayer support,” Burchett said in his opening statement. “It’s become infected by a woke ideology that’s seeped into its public displays, educational materials, and planning documents.”