Racism on parade
National Park Service staff on Thursday took down an exhibit on slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, which had been targeted last year by President Donald Trump in an executive order on “restoring truth and sanity to American history.”
The exhibit was at the President’s House Site, where George Washington lived as president. The informational panels discussed Washington’s ownership of enslaved people, as well as the broader history of slavery, and included details about their lives.
The Park Service has been removing information on historic racism, sexism, LGBT rights, slavery and climate change since last year as it carries out Trump’s executive order.
Other national park materials recently ordered removed include a sign describing basalt bubbles at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument that used an image of a visitor holding a Pride flag, according to materials reviewed by The Washington Post.
Separately, Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts has stopped showing a pair of films that included information on labor history. A park staffer who answered the phone at Lowell said the films had been removed to ensure compliance with the Interior Secretary’s order implementing Trump’s executive order.
“The President has directed federal agencies to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values,” Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said in a statement. “Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials in accordance with the Order.”
I guess they figure if we don’t see it or teach it or talk about it we can pretend it didn’t happen. After all, Trump believes that he can alter his own history by simply lying repeatedly. Maybe if we just remove any unpleasant evidence of our past it will no longer be true.
But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Since they are all unreconstructed racists (just listen to Trump talk about Somali Americans earlier this week) why don’t they let their pro-slavery freak flag fly? Why would they hide this when they clearly think it was great and would be in favor of it today if they could make it happen? Are they ashamed of it?
It’s also interesting that they are trying to hide the history of the labor movement. I wonder if all those unionized white working class Trump voters care? Probably not. They don’t see themselves in any of that. But they wouldn’t have what they have if it weren’t for the union movement that Trump and his henchmen are now trying to erase. They should know that they would like to erase all their benefits too.