7 times Trump admin. has been accused of erasing black history
7. Philadelphia slave display
Last month, the National Park Service garnered controversy when it removed an exhibit on slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The display involved panels bolted to brick walls that provided biographical information about nine enslaved individuals who lived at the presidential mansion with George Washington.
The cited reason for the removal was an executive order from March of last year titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which argued that in recent years, “Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
An Interior Department statement said the panels were removed because federal agencies were mandated to review such materials to “ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values,” reported The Associated Press.
For their part, Philadelphia city officials filed a lawsuit against Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting NPS Director Jessica Bowron over the removal.
“Let me affirm, for the residents of the city of Philadelphia, that there is a cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government that dates back to 2006,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker stated at a recent press conference.
“That agreement requires parties to meet and confer if there are to be any changes made to an exhibit.”
