Arts and humanities grants must not fall victim to the federal budget ax

Lost in the shuffle of the tornado-like first month of Donald Trump’s presidency was an announcement that his proposed budget would abolish the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In a letter to constituents who have questioned the wisdom of such cuts, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, made a case for reducing spending in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in the face of record deficits and debt.

He also called for a budget that would “eliminate wasteful spending,” and hold the “federal government accountable for its excessive spending.”

Any reasonable person would agree that there has been a crucial lack of leadership and courage from the two major parties on economic policy in recent history.

Members of both parties repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, allowing our banks to grow to the point where they were “too big to fail” and had to be bailed out after the 2008 housing crisis.

They also voted for tax cuts and Medicare expansion amidst two ongoing wars.

As deficits and economic inequality have accelerated over the past 40 years, Cornyn and his fellow Republicans have dug in their heels on any mention of increasing taxes.

In a country where the top 20 percent of families control a staggering 93 percent of total wealth, Republicans continue to make the case that increasing either the top marginal rate on income or corporate taxes would be detrimental to investment and job growth.

Historian James Livingston, however, has pointed out that “[s]ince the 1920s, economic growth has happened even though net private investment has atrophied.”

More importantly, the right’s objections to tax increases on the wealthiest Americans lack any moral justification, and their version of austerity would mean radical cuts to our social safety net, all of which would imperil our nation’s most vulnerable.

Beyond the speciousness and immorality of Cornyn’s arguments on taxes, we must confront the short-term thinking inherent in his diatribe against “wasteful spending.”

The NEH and NEA are far from superfluous.

The primary functions of the humanities and the arts are to make people consider others’ experiences, cultivate our empathy and provide people with the tools to parse fact from fiction.

Indeed, in our current political and cultural environment, there could be no more essential civic programs.

The 2016 presidential election tore our national fabric and the body politic.

Even if some Trump voters cast their votes based on economic considerations, the fact remains that our new president’s rhetoric has been incredibly divisive.

Sadly, since the election, the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a spike in hate crimes, and there have been innumerable reports of bullying and racial harassment in schools.

With Trump’s intention to keep campaigning and only belatedly denounce anti-Semitism and racism, it is clear these open wounds will not be sutured by him.

That responsibility, therefore, falls to the rest of us.

If we hope to sustain a stable multicultural society in this political climate, one that is truly inclusive of people of color, the poor, disabled, our LGBT community and those of different religions, we cannot forsake the struggles and lessons of our history and the artists who make us confront others’ experiences.

Nor can we afford to be misled by disinformation campaigns that seek to pervert the realities of our past and present.

Both the NEH and NEA seek to create a more harmonious society by broadening the American historical and cultural narrative to include these diverse perspectives and experiences.

Each does this at roughly the same cost of keeping the first family in New York City ($150 million/year).

As we live in increasingly like-minded congressional districts and neighborhoods, NEH and NEA exhibitions and lecture series offer valuable opportunities for every community member to engage in face-to-face dialogues about the past and present with people that they might not otherwise encounter in their daily lives.

NEH digital projects, such as the disability history portal or the Civil Rights in Black and Brown project, supplement and enhance these efforts.

It is past time for Congress to recognize the indispensable role that the NEH and NEA play in weaving the various threads of our multicultural nation into a whole.

These efforts are not incidental to our democracy, but elemental.

One thing is certain: We will not arrive at a more perfect union through exclusion, ignorance of the past and denying each other’s humanity.

Such a course will inevitably lead to chronic misunderstandings, resentments and increasing social tension.

This story was originally published February 27, 2017 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Arts and humanities grants must not fall victim to the federal budget ax."