WASHINGTON (AP) — In an afternoon's walk through ground zero of Americana — the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History — objects around every corner invite one question: What could possibly be more American than this?

What could be more American than that enormous Star-Spangled Banner in all its timeworn glory? Or more American than Dorothy's ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz”?

And what could be more American than a reckoning with the nation's sins, as illustrated by shackles representing slavery and photos of Japanese Americans confined to detention camps in World War II? It's in authoritarian countries, like Russia, where history is scrubbed.

In myriad ways, the museum explores “the complexity of our past," in accord with its mission statement. President Donald Trump wan

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