Debate Over Smithsonian Exhibits on Slavery, Race and Sports

has gone into the Smithsonian and he's effectively now has some random person deciding what is appropriate for the Smithsonian to teach in terms of American history, things that don't offend parts of the MAGA base, right?

So we're now literally reviewing parts of American history and parts of American culture to make sure it comports with Dear Leader and what the MAGA organization wants.

Can we address some of those things that are in there?

So- 'Cause, uh, have you looked at some of the things that are being reviewed?

Yeah, slavery, yeah, slavery was a bad thing that we should talk about.

Okay, but the, okay. Like, he forgives himself.

He's not whitewashing slavery. So- Uh, he's not?

He's not, no. Okay. He's, he's not. And you cannot tie imperialism and racism and slavery to just one race, which is pretty much what every single exhibit does.

But let's talk about the fact that when you make- You can't tie slavery, you can't tie slavery to- Let's talk about the fact- I mean, Unite, slavery in America was, it was about white supremacy ... do you realize that only less than 2% of white Americans owned slaves?

But it was a system of white supremacy. Do, do you realize that slavery is thousands of years old?

You know, African Americans were slaves and white people were the slave owners.

Do you know who was the first race to try to end slavery?

In American history- I didn't realize this was controversial. Okay.

What is that? Well, what's controversial- Jillian, Jillian, I'm very surprised that you're trying- This is an extraordinary exercise in historical revisionism ... well, I, I, I- I'm really surprised- Historical revisionism. Do you realize that- Jillian, I'm surprised that you're trying to litigate, um, th- who

was the beneficiary of slavery and who was not.

I'm not. What I'm trying to tell you is that- I mean, in the, in the context of American history- Okay ... in the context of American history, what are you saying is incorrect by s- by saying that- What I'm saying is you cannot- ... it was white people oppressing Black people?

Every single thing is like, "Oh, no, no, no, this is all because white people bad." And that's just not the truth. Like, for exam- every single exhibit, I have a list of every single one, like people d- migrated from Cuba because white people bad, not because of past... Yes, no, it's in there. That's what I'm saying.

You don't actually know what's in there.

Do you know that when you walk in the front door- Jillian, what, what exactly- ... the first thing you see, you have gay pride- Hold on. Do you have a, Jillian, do you have a lot of stuff on, in front of you?

Yeah, I do because I don't- What exactly- Because here's the thing ... are you talking about?

Okay, I'll give you an example. Yeah, please.

There's one called Change Your Game, right?

This, this has been an installation there.

Is gender testing fair in sports? Does that...

And then it goes on to talk about how it's complex to do gender testing in sports.

Okay. It's not complex. It's basic science. That's untrue.

It's XX chromosome, XY chromosome. That's sports. Is it fair to have biological men competing against- Okay ... biological women in sports? No. But why is this in the Smithsonian?

So it's- Well, look, I mean- It's, it's been completely captured- First of all, I, I don't think we- And it's totally partisan ... we don't, first of all, we don't have time to litigate all of this.

Of course we don't, because then you're gonna lose- But, but I do- ... the argument ... no, no. No, no.

And if everything is racialized- ... just like you're trying to do to me now.

... just like you're trying to do to me now.

But, uh, excuse me? It's like, "Oh, I can't believe you're trying to suggest- Jillian, you- ... you know, that slavery's- Just to be clear, you brought up race.

No, I- This was a conversation about the arts- My, my- ... and you brought up race.

It isn't, though. You brought up- But the whole point of this- Hold on, hold on, Jillian ... is that the issue that people take- You brought up, you brought up slavery, and you brought up the question of whether- I didn't. You did ... hold on. You brought up the question- And my point- ... of whether or not slavery in the United States is

about race. The answer is yes. No, I didn't.

Of course. I did not say that. Slavery in the United States- Don't, no, don't straw man- ... is about race ... my argument, because that's not what I said.

So what are you talking about? She brought up slavery, and what I was talking about is that this isn't really about that. When you make every single exhibit about white imperialism when it isn't relevant at all, that is a problem. So when you're talking about Cubans leaving Cuba, and you make it about white people bad,

that's not accurate. Okay. That's my point.

All right. We, we're gonna move on from that.

Yeah. Yeah. I would say on the arts thing, I think why this is-