The Black Press: The Last Line of Defense as Trump Seizes Control of the National Archives
Donald Trump’s recent takeover of the National Archives marks yet another chilling step in his broader campaign to rewrite history, erasing the truths that challenge his authoritarian ambitions. With the forced resignation of Acting Archivist William Bosanko, Trump and his allies are moving swiftly to reshape how American history is recorded, preserved, and ultimately remembered. This power grab, executed under the banner of Project 2025 and backed by figures like Elon Musk, is more than just an attack on government records—it is an existential threat to the preservation of Black history and the truth itself.
History Under Siege
For centuries, African Americans have fought for their place in the national narrative, often relying on the Black Press as the only means to document the realities of systemic racism, discrimination, and resilience. From Ida B. Wells’ fearless reporting on lynching to the Chicago Defender’s pivotal role in the Great Migration, Black newspapers have long served as the voice of the silenced. With Trump’s grip tightening over the agency responsible for safeguarding historical records, the need for an independent, unflinching Black press has never been more urgent.
Trump’s purge at the National Archives follows a pattern of systematic erasure. His administration has already waged war on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, gutted affirmative action, and worked to dismantle programs designed to level the playing field for marginalized communities. Now, by taking control of the Archives, he is moving to rewrite the nation’s past to justify the injustices of the present and future.
The forced removal of archivists and the potential installation of loyalists like Hugh Hewitt or John Solomon—far-right operatives with no historical credentials—signal that the agency’s purpose is shifting from preservation to propaganda. Reports indicate that the Archive’s leadership under previous political influence had already begun censoring mentions of Indigenous land displacement, removing references to Japanese American internment, and even swapping out images of Martin Luther King Jr. for Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley in museum exhibits.
This power shift is part of a broader authoritarian trend, as seen in the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and affirmative action. The rollback of these initiatives disproportionately affects Black Americans and other marginalized communities, making the work of the Black Press more crucial than ever.
Black Press as a Corrective Force
In a recent episode of the “Seizing Freedom” podcast, journalist Adam Serwer spoke about the historical role of the Black Press in countering misinformation. “There were whole newspapers that said the Klan did not exist,” Serwer explained. “You had people who were victims of the Klan who were literally testifying in Congress about seeing people be murdered or being attacked or mutilated themselves. And you would have these Democratic-aligned papers and some Republican papers as well saying, ‘Oh, you know, the Ku Klux Klan is like a fictional invention of fevered imaginations.’ But it was completely made up, and Black newspapers were saying, ‘This is nonsense; it’s made up.”
A display wall showcases the front pages of the nation’s Black newspapers. Member papers could benefit from President Biden’s Build Back Better Act. (Travis Riddick/NNPA)
Similarly, Ida B. Wells was relentless in exposing racial terrorism. “She was one of the people who was primarily responsible for not only countering that propaganda that was justifying that campaign of terrorism,” Serwer noted, “but for laying down a historical record that historians would use to show that it was, in fact, a propaganda campaign.”
A Dangerous Precedent
Many argue that this is not just an assault on history; it is an assault on truth. In authoritarian regimes, controlling the historical record is a crucial strategy for maintaining power. As historian George Orwell warned, “He who controls the past controls the future.” Trump’s latest move places America firmly on that trajectory, echoing tactics used by totalitarian states to whitewash history, from Stalin’s Soviet Union to China’s suppression of ‘historical nihilism.’
Onlookers have observed that Musk’s control over X (formerly Twitter) — and now the government — further illustrates the danger. Politicians, historians, and others have noted that, under Musk’s leadership, the platform has become a haven for misinformation, with accounts spreading white nationalist rhetoric and conspiracy theories while voices advocating for racial justice face suppression. “The Black Press remains one of the last independent institutions able to challenge these narratives,” National Newspaper Publishers Association President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. has often declared.
A Call to Action
Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett remains among the few unafraid to speak truth to power, particularly when her Republican colleagues show ignorance of Black history. She recently lit into the MAGA loyalists who claimed white men are oppressed in America.
“There has been no oppression for the white man in this country,” she declared in a fiery, nearly two-minute speech. “You tell me which white men were dragged out of their homes. You tell me which one of them was dragged across an ocean and told they were going to work, have their wives stolen, and have their wives raped. That didn’t happen. That is oppression.”
Crockett pointed out that Republicans are constantly trying to erase Black history from school textbooks. They want to keep American schoolchildren in the dark, she says, so they “can then misuse words like oppression”—just like her House colleagues were doing at that moment.
Writing in the Detroit Free Press, Keith Owens asserted, “You can’t erase Black history for the same reason you can’t erase air; because air simply exists whether you want it to or not. It’s not multiple-choice. Stop breathing, and you will find out. It’s science, and it’s also fact.”
Owens further argued, “Any attempt to extricate Black threads from the American tapestry will result in the entire fabric becoming undone. Just to make it plain; there is no American history without Black history. That’s because there is a strong likelihood that America never would have evolved into the economic powerhouse that it became – and might not have evolved much at all – without Black Americans.”
Historians warn that suppressing history is often a precursor to further civil rights rollbacks. They argue that the Black Press must be the frontline against these efforts as it has done for centuries. “It must continue reporting on the realities that mainstream media overlooks, challenge disinformation, and preserve the voices of those history seeks to erase,” said self-described New York Amsterdam News loyalist and accountant Jonathan Ebanks.
“Silence is complicity in state-sponsored amnesia. The Black Press plays a vital role in resisting this erasure,” Ebanks insisted. “The truth will not preserve itself. The Black Press must continue its mission—not just to inform but to resist.”
