Trump Is Creating A Reich Chamber Of Culture
White Christian Nationalist Fascists Are Coming For Our Kids Now
[Update 4/12/25 - Henry Giroux nails it (you know what they say about fine minds!):
The lessons of history make clear where this road leads. In 1933, as part of a national effort to align German institutions with Nazi ideology—a process known as Gleichschaltung—the regime targeted universities as key sites for ideological control. ~~~ end update]
Trump's recent Executive Order RESTORING TRUTH AND SANITY TO AMERICAN HISTORY is perhaps the worst in his "long train of abuses"
A few weeks ago, after reading about Trump's hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center and the Trump Department of Education letters to Columbia and about 60 other universities withholding billions of dollars of federal funds to crush protest, silence dissent, destroy academic freedom, and coerce them to impose a right wing Christian Nationalist ideological agenda, I did a little research on how the Nazi's treated education and culture.
The parallels are profound.
They are magnified exponentially by Trump's Department of Education letter to now expand that attack to the nation's K -12 schools.
I never got around to finishing the research and writing about those parallels, but today let me mention just 2 similarities.
I) "Alignment" - Totalitarian Consolidation of Power In The Leader
Gleichschaltung.
Trump's Executive Orders and dictates to the nation's universities, cultural institutions, State governments, and now K-12 schools mandate that all policies and decisions must be "aligned" with Trump's dictates.
Hitler pursued an identical policy and practice. The Nazi's had a word for that: Gleichschaltung: (Wiki)
"The Nazi term Gleichschaltung (German pronunciation: [ˈɡlaɪçʃaltʊŋ] ⓘ), meaning "synchronization" or "bringing into line", was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler—leader of the Nazi Party in Germany—established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society "from the economy and trade associations to the media, culture and education".[1]
Repeat: Just like Hitler, Trump seeks control over all aspects of society: "from the economy and trade associations to the media, culture and education" (including the legal profession).
II) Trump's Reich Chamber of Culture
Trump's Executive Orders and his use of federal funds to coerce academic, cultural, and State governments are designed not only to dismantle "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI), but are much broader and seek to prohibit virtually any deviation from a White Christian Nationalist view of history, culture and society - even architecture and design!
The Kennedy Center hostile takeover and installation of Trump cronies is only the most obvious and visible example of Trump's Reich Chamber of Culture.
Trump declared (read the whole terrifying thing):
It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage,consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing. Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.
The Nazi's did exactly the same thing in creating the Reich Chamber of Culture: (Wiki)
"The Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer, abbreviated as RKK) was a government agency in Nazi Germany. It was established by law on 22 September 1933 in the course of the Gleichschaltungprocess at the instigation of Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels as a professional organization of all German creative artists.[1] Defying the competing ambitions of the German Labour Front (DAF) under Goebbels' rival Robert Ley, it was meant to gain control over the entire cultural life in Germany creating and promoting Aryan art consistent with Nazi ideals."
This is what Fascists do with respect to history, culture, art and science - watch this interview with Yale Philosophy professor Jason Stanley.
Read this superb piece by Henry Giroux:
The Fire This Time
And here is a list and chronology of Nazification.
See how many more parallels you can find.
