When Art Becomes a Weapon: What the DHS’s Use of “American Progress” Reveals

Not everything that glitters is gold, and not every painting on a federal website is just decoration. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) came under scrutiny for prominently featuring the 19th-century painting **“American Progress”** by John Gast—a sentimental, gilded-age portrayal of Manifest Destiny—in their internal documentation and reports. At first glance, it may appear to be an innocent nod to Americana. But in today’s political and social climate, that imagery carries deeper—and more dangerous—undertones.

As a veteran, a Black man, and someone who’s walked both the halls of America’s government and the sidewalks of neglected communities, I feel compelled to speak to this issue. Because when a government agency responsible for border security and immigration enforcement uses an image wrapped in the legacy of displacement, conquest, and whitewashed myth, it’s not just tone deaf—it’s telling.

“American Progress” Isn’t Just a Painting

The painting, created in 1872, shows a glowing, angelic Columbia—representing American expansion—carrying a schoolbook westward as settlers, railroads, telegraphs, and armed pioneers follow her. Meanwhile, darkened Indigenous figures, wild animals, and untamed land are pushed into the shadows.

To some, it signals the miracle of civilization and technological advancement. But to many others—myself included—it symbolizes erasure, forced removal, and a belief in white cultural supremacy.

This painting, widely used during the 19th century to sell the idea of Manifest Destiny, sanitized the brutal truth of what “progress” truly meant: broken treaties, mass killings, land theft, and cultural genocide. For DHS to choose this image in 2024 to convey a mission related to homeland and border protection? That’s not coincidence. That is narrative.

Symbols Are Intentional

Departments like DHS don’t do things on accident, especially when it comes to messaging and public perception. Art has power. It softens ideology. It invites buy-in—especially when cloaked in patriotism.

Using this painting suggests that DHS frames its mission in a similar light: continue the “civilizing” journey, protect the homeland from “outsiders,” and defend a cultural ideal rooted in westward domination. That should disturb all of us.

(h2) From Dog Whistle to Bullhorn

We’ve seen how nationalism dresses itself as “pride,” how xenophobia hides behind calls for “law and order,” and now—how a painting justifies a policy agenda.

Ethnic cleansing doesn’t start with violence—it starts with ideas. With imagery. With defining who gets to be part of the future and who must move out of the frame.

When we use a picture that visualizes Indigenous people being driven back into the shadows as a metaphor for American “security” today, we are dangerously flirting with the same mindset. ICE raids, family separations, citizenship denials, and land seizures are modern echoes of the very displacement this painting romanticizes.

My Experience Serves as a Warning

I’ve served this country in uniform. I’ve fought for ideals that I believed were just. But I’ve also witnessed how those same ideals get twisted. I’ve seen neighbors harassed because of their accent. I’ve seen veterans of color passed over or treated like intruders in the very system they defended.

It always starts with an image—an “other”—a frame.

We Must Stay Vigilant

When we allow our government to subtly (or not so subtly) embrace historical propaganda under the guise of heritage, we surrender part of our collective truth. We must not allow art meant to glorify conquest to become the ideological foundation for modern policy.

We can honor heritage **without fellating white supremacy.** We can build national security without demonizing migrants. We can tell the American story **without erasing the people whose blood, land, and sweat built this country—only to be forced into footnotes.**

Final Thoughts

To my fellow veterans, artists, educators, and advocates—don’t dismiss this as just a painting. Speak up. Push back on these symbols. Demand that our government reflect the diversity of our truth, not a myth bred in conquest.

And to DHS: we are watching. You don’t get to define “American progress” on your terms. America belongs to all of us—not just those Columbia decides to illuminate.