The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History just unveiled a freshly renovated exhibit on George Washington, and folks are treating it like the guy personally unfollowed them on Instagram. The exhibit, titled "The Price of Liberty," opened this month and features Washington's actual wooden teeth (spoiler: they weren't wood, they were hippo ivory and human teeth, which is somehow worse), his inauguration sword, and a bunch of interactive screens that let you "experience the weight of the presidency."
Sounds harmless, right? Wrong. Because this is America, and we can't have nice things without a culture war breaking out over a display case.
The backlash started when visitors noticed the exhibit includes a panel discussing Washington's enslaved workers at Mount Vernon. It states plainly that Washington owned 123 enslaved people at the time of his death and that he arranged for their freedom in his will. Historians call this "accurate." Certain corners of the internet call this "woke revisionism." A TikTok user with a flag emoji in her bio went viral after ranting that the museum "turned the father of our country into a villain," which is a bold take considering the man is literally on the one-dollar bill and has a 555-foot obelisk dedicated to him.
Meanwhile, the other side is mad too, because apparently the exhibit doesn't go far enough. Critics point out that the panel mentions Washington's slave ownership but doesn't dwell on it, and that the exhibit still leans heavily into the "great man" narrative. One historian told The Washington Post that it "sanitizes the horror while checking a box." You can't win, folks. You literally cannot win.
The museum, for its part, released a statement saying it aims to present "a complete and honest portrait of Washington, including the complexities of his life." Which is museum-speak for "please stop yelling at us, we're just trying to display some old dentures in peace."
Let's be honest about what's happening here. This isn't really about George Washington. It's about us. It's about whether we can handle the fact that the people we put on pedestals were complicated, flawed, and in Washington's case, owned other human beings while simultaneously fighting for liberty. That's not a fun fact. It's a gut punch. And the Smithsonian is trying to present it in a way that doesn't require a trigger warning, which pleases no one.
The exhibit runs through 2026, so you've got plenty of time to go see it, get offended, tweet about it, and contribute to the great American pastime of arguing about dead guys. Bring the kids. Bring your uncle who watches too much cable news. Bring a snack. You'll need it.
Closing opinion: The Smithsonian is trying to do the impossible—tell the truth about a founding father without triggering a national tantrum. The real exhibit here is America's inability to sit with discomfort. Washington owned people. That's a fact, not a political statement. Grow up and look at the teeth.