Not everyone is a fan of the new "harmful content warning" on documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. | stock photo
Not everyone is a fan of the new "harmful content warning" on documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. | stock photo
The National Archives in Washington, D.C., has flagged historical documents for harmful content, warning readers of potentially triggering language and descriptions, as anti-racism policies have been put into effect.
The label, now attached to the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, appears on all documents across the Archive’s collection of records of the U.S. federal government, according to PolitiFact.
In a statement on the National Archives website, the organization says, “Some items may: reflect racist, sexist, ableist, misogynistic and xenophobic opinions and attitudes; be discriminatory towards or exclude diverse views on sexuality, gender, religion and more; include graphic content of historical events, such as violent death, medical procedures, crime, wars/terrorist acts, natural disasters and more; demonstrate bias and exclusion in institutional collecting and digitization policies.”
This comes as a racism task force, hired by the the National Archives following the murder of George Floyd in the spring of 2020, issued a 100-page report recommending a "harmful content warning" be placed in front of historic texts, according to DailyMail.com.
With this, the task force determined that America’s founding documents "laud wealthy white men in the nation's founding while marginalizing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), women and other communities,” according to a report by Christianity Daily.
On May 11, the National Archives hosted a meeting including 800 employees and the racism task force.
"NARA's (National Archives and Records Administration) records span the history of the United States, and it is our charge to preserve and make available these historical records," the Archives explainer said, according to Just the News. "As a result, some of the materials presented here may reflect outdated, biased, offensive and possibly violent views and opinions."
The content warning automatically appears on every page of the online catalog, according to the National Archives communication staff. None of the documents are altered or censored in any way, PolitiFact says.
In a recently signed letter addressed to the head of the National Archives, David Ferriero, 46 members of Congress stated that they are “deeply concerned” with the content warning on historical U.S. documents.
None of New Hampshire’s representatives signed this letter.
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