Attempts to erase history by the Trump Administration continues as the National Park Service was seen dismantling a slavery exhibit at Philadelphia’s President’s House in Independence National Historical Park.
As President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage” the U.S. be reviewed and risk being removed, an Independence Park employee told The Philadelphia Inquirer his supervisor told him to take down slavery depictions at The President’s House, a memorial site paying homage to the nine people enslaved by America’s first president, George Washington.
In total, the entire exhibit removal process took roughly an hour and a half to complete, with one employee saying, “I’m just following my orders.”
Leader of the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, Michael Coard, who assisted in an effort to protect the President’s House from the Trump administration, called the removal of the display an “abomination.”
“It’s a disgrace, and that’s an understatement,” Coard said, adding that Trump is a “monstrosity in the White House.”
“I cannot say what I’m thinking because, as a criminal defense attorney, I know better. What’s going on now is absolutely unheard of in the history of the United States of America.”
The display removal, including those with titles “Life
Under Slavery” and “The Dirty Business of Slavery,” comes as Trump and the country seemingly prepare for its 250th anniversary on July 4th, where the City of Brotherly Love and its historic exhibits will be on the national stage. However, city leadership is prepared to put up a fight.Shortly after the exhibits were removed, causing an uproar on social media, the city sued the Interior Department and the acting director of the National Park Service seeking a preliminary injunction to restore the exhibits, according to NBC News.
In a statement, Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson called the removal “an effort to whitewash
American history.”“History cannot be erased simply because it is uncomfortable. Removing items from the President’s House merely changes the landscape, not the historical record,” he said.
Social media users dragged the decision, posting quotes and book titles like Jason Stanley’s Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite The Past To Control The Future, reflecting on the current bout of racist moves happening across state lines.
On X, @MDangellll said America can make erasure attempts all it wants, but it’s a little too late, as dozens of displays depicting slavery have been flagged for review by the administration. “They can take down all the dirty history of this country that they want, but it’s in this country’s soul and DNA,” she wrote.
“You can’t hide it. Without truth and change, it will just manifest in new ways like it always has.”
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