Trump’s blind spot on black history worries scholars

In President Trump’s version of American history, 19th Century abolitionist Frederick Douglass has done “an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more.” The cause of the Civil War remains a puzzle and Andrew Jackson — who died 16 years before the bloodshed began — could have prevented the war’s outbreak were he alive. 

From the first moments of the Trump administration, historians said in interviews, they were baffled along with other Americans by factual inaccuracies flowing from the White House. But in the months that followed, and especially this week, scholars said their initial surprise has turned to deep dismay over Trump’s seemingly ill-informed views of US history, especially as it relates to racial minorities.

“There seems to be this kind of disdain for the reality of African-American history,” said Carol Anderson, a professor at Emory University who specializes in black studies. 

“When you don’t care enough about something to learn about it, yet you open up your mouth to speak about it — that’s contempt,” Anderson said.