NEH to mark 250 years of US independence with media projects focused on oppression of minorities

Agency plans to award $3.5 million to fund documentaries, radio and podcasts that "tell the stories of our quest for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable society throughout our history."

By Mary Lou Lang

Published: February 11, 2023 3:53pm

Updated: February 11, 2023 11:03pm

The Golden Horseshoe is a weekly designation from Just The News intended to highlight egregious examples of wasteful taxpayer spending by the government. The award is named for the horseshoe-shaped toilet seats for military airplanes that cost the Pentagon a whopping $640 each back in the 1980s.

With the United States set to celebrate the 250th anniversary of independence in 2026, the National Endowment for the Humanities plans to spend $3.5 million for a slate of media projects, including documentary films, podcasts and radio, to promote a narrative of U.S history focused on racial justice, gender equality, the treatment of Native Americans and minorities and environmental sustainability.

The funding is offered under "A More Perfect Union," an NEH "special initiative" the agency says is "designed to demonstrate and enhance the critical role the humanities play in our nation, while also supporting projects that will help Americans commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026."

The agency will allocate up to $3.5 million among an expected 12 grantees for media projects that will "explore, reflect on, and tell the stories of our quest for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable society throughout our history," according to the program description in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

"NEH especially welcomes projects that bring the perspective of the humanities to questions of racial justice, gender equality, the evolution of the American landscape, as well as America's place in the world," the agency specifies.

While "A More Perfect Union" appears to be focused on the plight of oppressed minorities through the course of U.S. history, the media funding program also "strongly encourages projects that strengthen Americans' knowledge of our principles of constitutional governance and democracy," the NEH claims, "as well as projects that address the experiences of Native Americans and other under-represented communities."

The deadline for grant applications was Jan. 11, 2023.

The NEH did not respond to a request for comment on this grant.