An open letter to Sen. Mike Lee,
I am writing to express my disappointment that you single-handedly blocked the creation of a National Museum of the American Latino and a women’s history museum. I hope the proponents of those museums — which were supported by years of studies and commissions and a bipartisan bill — will be able to override your opposition.
Until then, you have added to the expense, frustration and time needed to bring these projects to fruition.
I could give you a number of reasons why I disagree with your assessment that these museums are “divisive” and that these underrepresented populations are or can be adequately served in the existing National Museum of American History.
As an undergraduate studying history at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., I personally enjoyed the benefits of both the National Museum of American History and of specialty museums that fostered better understanding of historically underrepresented groups. But I imagine you have already heard, or were at least presented with, proponents’ arguments before your vote. Apparently, you were unmoved.
My plea, then, is this: If you want to create unity and inclusion for groups that have been and continue to be marginalized in our historical and present-day institutions and storytelling, you need to listen to the people in those groups. You need to listen to the women and Latino leaders who have spent years advocating for these museums.
If you want to promote inclusion and a sense of belonging for all Americans, you need to listen to experts on inclusion and belonging, to people who have studied these issues and advise on how we can promote those goals.
If you want to make good decisions about the Smithsonian, you need to listen to the Smithsonian task force. You need to listen to the experts — to the people whose field this is and who have spent years studying this issue before coming to a unanimous recommendation.
If there is one thing that is amplifying division in this country, it is an unwillingness to listen to one another. We are especially resistant to listen to people from groups we don’t identify with, whose views and experiences challenge our own, and to experts who call upon us to do things that may not be comfortable personally.
Your refusal to listen to people who view things differently than you has only widened the divide you aim to heal. It is hubris to think that you know better than the Smithsonian task force and the Latino and women’s groups that have advocated for years on how to represent their history. It is hubris to think that you are the nation’s expert on how to celebrate diversity while fostering unity and inclusion.
It is also hubris to think that you know better than your 99 fellow senators, who were ready to allow the museums to be approved. That landslide should tell you something. You are not the lone voice in the Senate who has somehow figured diversity and inclusion out. You are the lone voice who didn’t listen. You got it wrong.
Listen more, tweet less.
Sincerely,
Erin Goodsell
Erin Goodsell
Erin Goodsell is an attorney and law professor who lives with her family in Provo. She sent this letter to Sen. Mike Lee and is looking forward to hearing back from him.
