ROGER KIMBALL: Lonnie Bunch’s long march through the Smithsonian.

Lonnie G. Bunch III, the first black head of the Smithsonian Institution, is stepping down after a tenure of some seven years. NPR had the news: “In 2019, Bunch was named secretary of the Smithsonian, becoming the first historian and the first African American to hold the position.” The Wall Street Journal also got the memo: “The first Black historian to lead the world’s largest museum and research complex says he’s retiring and will leave by year’s end.” NBC looked behind the headline. “Bunch, the first Black person and first historian to lead the institution, has said he would have retired a year ago but felt he had to stay to defend the institution from the White House attacks, the person said.”

I had something to say about those “attacks” – I prefer the word “criticisms” – in the Speccie as this little thrust and parry was unfolding. A key document is a letter to Bunch whose subject line reads: “Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials.” Signed by Lindsey Halligan, Special Assistant to the President; Vince Haley, Director of the Domestic Policy Council; and Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the letter announces a “comprehensive internal review” of the Smithsonian, its exhibitions and curatorial procedures.” “This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Bunch has denied that he decided to retire because of pressure from the Trump administration. But he did allow that the administration’s spotlight on the Smithsonian’s ideological coloration was “stressful.” After all, he told the New York Times: “When you’re Black in America, you’ve got to figure out how to get through, right?” Would that be different from being white or some other color “in America?”

In any event, few people would deny that Bunch figured out how to “get through” while being black “in America.” For the last several year, he has been pulling down nearly a million dollars per annum, pretty good innings for someone – no matter his quota of melanin – at a tax-exempt, largely publicly funded enterprise.

Hey, it’s tough out there for a black man in America, but at least he wasn’t locked in a room with 11 liberal white shrews.