The controversy brewing at the National Museum of the American Latino

Plus: the man who came up with 'Underground Railroad' |

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By Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) takes place in an era of heated culture wars over how history is taught. And the prestigious Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum, isn’t exempt.  My recent reporting reveals a controversy over the National Museum of the American Latino. Authorized by Congress in 2020, it doesn’t have a building yet and puts on exhibits in the meantime at the National Museum of American History. I learned that a show on Latino youth movements originally planned for that space is on hold, and a new one on salsa and Latin music is being developed in its place. Scholars involved in the civil rights history exhibit believe it was paused because of political pressure, as conservative Latino political activists strive to make sure that the population is not depicted as victims of oppression in the future museum. As Felipe Hinojosa, a professor of History at Baylor University who worked on the paused Latino youth movements exhibit for two years, sums up what’s at stake: “The tragedy and really the story here is around who controls the future of Latino history.” Click here to read the whole story.

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