There’s a Johnny Cash statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol. The Man in Black replaced James P. Clarke in September 2024. Clarke’s own great-great-grandson, Arkansas state Sen. Clarke Tucker, was among those who were all for the switch, saying his ancestor’s views on race no longer aligned with Arkansas’ vision of the country. Johnny Cash’s version of America, a place full of hope and betrayal, God and the devil, pointless death and jaw-dropping beauty, may be the ideal representation of America. The Trump administration seemingly agrees, and there may be another Johnny Cash statue in the nation’s capital if Trump gets his way. The National Endowment for the Humanities recently announced a grant program ($200,000 per statue, which has to be made of marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass) to support President Donald Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes, something he wanted to do in his first term. It’s part of the 250th anniversary of the country. The money would likely come from canceled NEH grants. So far, this is what you’d expect from the current administration, stripping money away from living artists to support something he likes. What’s interesting and seemingly at odds in the action are the 250 Americans on the list of approved statue subjects, which was originally released by the first Trump administration on Jan. 18, 2021, shortly before he left office after losing to Joe Biden. The current grant application, which went live late in April, links to the list. Go through the entire list. It’s not nearly as right-wing as you’d think. In fact, it’s actually a pretty good representation of the first 250 years of this country. Sure, there’s a lot omitted, and some people are clearly on the list only because they were proposed by this administration, but it’s far from politically one-sided. The most interesting aspect of the entire thing are the actors, directors, entertainers, journalists, painters and others who worked in and around the arts. Johnny Cash is on the list. You’ll be hard pressed to find any one of any political affiliation who would not agree with this pick. Then there are folks like Woody Guthrie, Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Edward R. Murrow. In case you missed that: According to Trump, some of the 250 most important Americans include WOODY GUTHRIE, DR. SEUSS and EDWARD R. MURROW! You’d be hard-pressed to think of three individuals who would be in more direct opposition to the current administration. Well, OK — Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on there too. But let’s stick to artists and journalists for now. Guthrie, Seuss and Murrow are absolutely worthy of a statue in this nation’s capital. But is it a sincere wish of a president who has inspired more headlines calling him a fascist to honor an artist that literally had “THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS” emblazoned on his guitar? Is the first verse of “This Land Is Your Land” just so good most listeners don’t realize it’s an idealistic version of America and a harsh critique of the haves versus the have-nots? A president who has embraced right-wing ideology wants to shine a light on the guy who wrote “Tear The Fascists Down”? Do you think anyone in the administration understood the lessons from “The Lorax”? What about “Horton Hears a Who!”?Do these people know Murrow was one of the main reasons McCarthyism failed (at least for the time)?Is this a joke? Is everything a joke? Does it matter?Statues last much longer than the people who chose to erect them. If Trump wants to honor these four men, and some of the greatest film actors and directors of the 1940s and 1950s (including Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart, two of the main folks behind both “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Wonderful Life”), a few jazz legends (Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday), Mickey Mouse’s dad Walt Disney and some immigrants who made America great (Ingrid Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, Alex Trebek), well, that’s great! If you focus on the arts of America, you can’t make it right-wing. You just can’t. There’s no right-wing version of Woody Guthrie. There’s not an omission of a right-wing version of Guthrie — there literally is no right-wing version of Guthrie. Dr. Seuss’ books continue to thrive because they’re not in support of deforestation or targeting the smallest among us. Murrow’s legacy didn’t come about because he befriended politicians. People watch Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” every year because George Bailey’s community comes together to help him before Mr. Potter is able to take away everything he’s worked for. “Strange Fruit,” the song immortalized by Billie Holiday, another proposed statue, is not actually about fruit. This proposed National Garden of American Heroes is not a bad idea. The proposed subjects in this garden are not a bad idea. It is exactly the type of tourist attraction that could make people proud to be an American. This experiment of a nation works because of varied points of view, critical examination of our past and stories that remind us that we’re better as a nation without kings. But the way in which this garden is being constructed is antithetical to everything some of these artists represent.
