There was a glorious exchange on Capitol Hill yesterday, when Dr. Anthea Hartig, Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, was grilled during a hearing about her institution's "mass action toolkit," which listed a number of behaviors it deemed "white supremacy."
Rep. Brandon Gill asked Hartig, "Is it important to be polite?"
"Yes, sir," Hartig replied.
"The Smithsonian lists politeness as an attribute of white supremacy," Gill shot back. "Can you help me square why your organization says being polite is part of being a white supremacist?"
Hartig, unsurprisingly, could not. Well, no, that's not true. She could, but she chose not to, because her explanation would have revealed some very uncomfortable truths about this ideology. Those truths were laid out in a 162-page report that the White House recently released.
But if you don't have time for that, and since Hartig won't be forthcoming, I'll do it for you:
By classifying certain behaviors as "white supremacy," the Left is going to dismantle the things that make America and civil society work. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have made it very clear their agenda is the dismantling of the U.S. and Western civilization. While Hartig herself may not be a member of the DSA, she's aligned with and aiding that mission.
🇺🇸 This might be one of the most insulting things ever produced in the name of "anti-racism."
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 22, 2026
According to these Smithsonian graphics, traits like hard work, self-reliance, the scientific method, delayed gratification, planning for the future, objective thinking, and the nuclear… pic.twitter.com/5k9IrDV1MY
The Smithsonian defined "white culture" (and so-called "white supremacy") in the United States by several characteristics, including: Rugged individualism (self-reliance, and a high value on autonomy and independence); Family structure (nuclear family where the husband is the breadwinner, the wife is the homemaker, and children have their own bedrooms); Emphasis on the scientific method (objective, rational thinking, and cause-and-effect relationships); History (focus on the British Empire and the primacy of Western and Judeo-Christian tradition); Protestant work ethic (the notion that hard work leads to success, and work before play); Future orientation (planning for the future, delaying gratification); Time orientation (fixed schedules, being on time); Holidays based on Christian religion; Justice (English common law, protection of property rights, and intent); Competition; and Communication (written communication and politeness).
These are all things that have made America work well for 250 years.
Which is why the Left wants to destroy them all. The University of Minnesota published a paper that called whiteness a "pandemic" and the professor who wrote it called on parents to "reeducate" their children so they aren't "socialized into a culture of whiteness." A little-talked-about plank in the DSA platform is their desire to abolish the family because it perpetuates that "whiteness," too.
Back in 2002, Harvard published an article in its eponymous magazine calling for the abolition of the white race. "Every group within white America has at one time or another advanced its particular and narrowly defined interests at the expense of black people as a race," the article read. "That applies to labor unionists, ethnic groups, college students, schoolteachers, taxpayers, and white women. Race Traitor will not abandon its focus on whiteness, no matter how vehement the pleas and how virtuously oppressed those doing the pleading. The editors meant it when they replied to the reader, "Make no mistake about it: we intend to keep bashing the dead white males, and the live ones, and the females too, until the social construct known as 'the white race' is destroyed—not 'deconstructed' but destroyed."
Nearly a quarter of a century later, that has not changed. It's all part of the larger plan to end this nation and usher in an era of poverty, violence, and leftist oppression.
I know some conservatives bristle at the culture war issues. Some think the White House report and yesterday's hearing on Capitol Hill are a waste of time. They're not. Politics is downstream of culture. And for years, the Left has been polluting the culture—schools, television, movies, sports, books—with this racist, toxic argument that civil behavior is white culture, and that white culture must be destroyed. I have long warned that ceding the culture wars to the Left was a mistake, and I've been proven right. We can only win if we start pushing back and reclaiming and restoring sanity to these cultural institutions.