From Washington to Westminster, the populist right needs to erase history to succeed. It’s up to us to resist | Kojo Koram

Removing divisive' Smithsonian exhibits, Farage's patriotic' curriculum: this is where the unpicking of the 20th-century liberal order begins

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In 1955, the American columnist William F Buckley Jr declared that a conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop'." But today's conservatives are not only trying to resist the advance of history, they are attempting to pull the train of history backwards and reopen the case on what constitutes a democratic society.

Last month, the Smithsonian's secretary received a letter from the Trump administration announcing that all exhibits deemed divisive" or ideological" should be replaced with those labelled historical" and constructive". Within days, a list of offending displays was published and, unsurprisingly, they overwhelmingly targeted artefacts that highlight Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ experiences in the American story.

Dr Kojo Koram teaches at the School of Law at Birkbeck, University of London, and writes on issues of law, race and empire. He is the author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire