WATCH: ‘If you erase it, we’ll replace it,’ Rep. Mfume says of black history at Smithsonian museums

Black Americans are “angry about what is happening now with these efforts to get rid of the African American Museum and the entire Smithsonian Museum,” Rep. Kwesi Mfume, D-Maryland, said during a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.

Watch the clip in the video player above.

“If you erase it, we will replace it,” Mfume said. “It’s that simple.”

He watches: House oversight hearing examines how Smithsonian presents US history, under attack by Trump

In his impassioned comments, Mfume quoted former President Abraham Lincoln as saying: “History has taught us and continues to teach us that we cannot continue to make the same mistakes.”

Mfume said he sat at the hearing “as a black man who grew up under apartheid, was not allowed to go certain places, drank from a water fountain labeled ‘Coloured’, and found his mother and father unable to do anything other than basic daily work.”

“We will not allow you to destroy this museum,” Mfume said. “No matter how long it takes, how many battles it takes, how much effort it takes, we will not allow this to happen.” “Unless you find a way to kill us all and walk on our bodies to change history.”

Watch Mfume’s full comments from the hearing below.

The hearing focused on the way the Smithsonian Institution provides scholarship on U.S. history. In announcing the hearing, the Republican-led committee claimed that “the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History promotes a narrow and politically biased agenda rather than seeking to instill in visitors an appreciation for America’s unique history as a beacon of freedom, democracy, and opportunity.”

In President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration has sought to clamp down on how American history is framed in public spaces, removing exhibits from national parks about slavery and violence against Native Americans.