Kevin Young, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), is currently on personal leave and not leading the museum, according to Smithsonian officials. The leave began on March 14 and will continue for an “undetermined period,” according to Kevin Gover, the Smithsonian’s under-secretary for museums and culture. Shanita Brackett, the museum’s associate director of operations, has stepped in as acting director. Young has served as director since January 2021, succeeding Lonnie G. Bunch III after Bunch became Secretary of the Smithsonian. Under Young’s leadership, the museum launched a digital “Searchable Museum” in the fall of 2021 and kicked off its $350 million “Living History” campaign the following year.
His unexpected leave comes as former President Donald Trump escalates efforts to reshape national cultural narratives. A recent executive order issued by Trump directs Vice President J.D. Vance to work with the Smithsonian Board of Regents on content oversight. That directive has alarmed museum officials, historians, and members of the Black community, who see it as a direct attempt to influence how history is presented, particularly Black history. The order has cast a spotlight on the NMAAHC, which opened in 2016 under Bunch’s leadership. Once praised for unearthing America’s untold Black stories, the museum is now facing political scrutiny for content Trump labeled as divisive and anti-patriotic. Bunch addressed the situation in a memo to Smithsonian staff, writing that the institution “will continue to showcase world-class exhibits, collections, and objects, rooted in expertise and accuracy.” He wrote that the Smithsonian “remains steadfast in our mission to bring history, science, education, research, and the arts to all Americans.”
Young’s museum career began in 2005 at Emory University, where he taught English and creative writing and served as a curator at the university’s rare books library. In 2016, he became director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, one of the oldest Black cultural institutions in the United States. During his five-year tenure, he raised $10 million in funding, launched a literary festival, boosted attendance by 40 percent, and acquired archives from cultural icons, including Harry Belafonte, Sonny Rollins, and James Baldwin. An author of 16 books of poetry and nonfiction, Young also serves as poetry editor for The New Yorker. The executive order follows Trump’s earlier efforts to dismantle racial equity initiatives, including his 2020 directive banning diversity training in federal agencies. Historians say those efforts have evolved into a larger campaign targeting how race, power, and history are discussed nationwide. Dr. Jerry W. Washington, an education expert who has written extensively about the cultural and political battles over historical memory, described the Trump-led effort as part of “the fight over American memory.” In an article for The Medium, Washington wrote, “It highlights a fundamental divergence not just in policy preference, but in how we interpret history, power, and truth itself.”
He pointed to the national backlash against critical race theory as evidence of a strategy designed to eliminate discussion of systemic racism and white privilege. “CRT became a catch-all term—a manufactured villain used to silence any acknowledgment of systemic racism, white privilege, or the real struggles of marginalized communities,” Washington wrote. “It was never about theory. It was about control.” Since Trump’s 2020 directive, more than 30 states have introduced or passed laws banning certain classroom discussions of race and history. Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have been dismantled across school districts, colleges, and public agencies. The Smithsonian, which is considered the nation’s most visible repository of historical scholarship, is now being pulled into that campaign. Bunch told staff that the Smithsonian would continue to work with its Board of Regents, which includes the Chief Justice, the Vice President, and members of Congress. He noted the board’s role in guiding the institution and its understanding of “the importance of scholarship, expertise, and service to the American public.” Washington warned that what’s at stake is much deeper than a shift in policy. “This is about more than exhibits,” he wrote. “It’s about erasing the truths that make America whole.”
