Gavin Montijo ‘26, Sports Editor
The Trump administration is headlining in the news—this time for the removal of plaques featuring information about the history of former presidents George Washington and John Adams having slaves in Philadelphia. This is part of President Donald Trump’s directive to remove or rewrite content at National Parks that, according to Trump, “might disparage Americans or promote corrosive ideology”. Trump seems to want to rewrite history of sorts in America and only paint a positive image of American history, negating all of the cruel and dehumanizing aspects—like, for instance, slavery. He started his idea of doing this with his executive order of Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History; this order included the removal of the slavery plaques at museums like the Smithsonian as well as historical landmarks like the Liberty Bell and the President’s House.
The executive order put Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in charge; he was directed by the order to remove any content that was against American History that said, “Do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.” While it is good to honor the amazing things America has done in its 250-year history, many view much of these actions as shameful and disrespectful to disregard the horrors and negative moments of American History. This order as of late has specifically targeted Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they have removed plaques of slavery, as well as ordered Independence Hall to remove all the qualifying pieces of history like pieces on slavery. This specific incident of removing the slavery plaque was significant, as the plaque was the only federal historical site that commemorated the history of slavery in America.
When the city of Philadelphia tried to fight the government with a lawsuit, a spokesperson with the Interior Department said, “We encourage the City of Philadelphia to focus on getting their jobless rates down and ending their reckless cashless bail policy instead of filing frivolous lawsuits in the hopes of demeaning our brave Founding Fathers who set the brilliant road map for the greatest country in the world–the United States of America.” Many have viewed this as unprofessional and inappropriate, especially as it handles the topic of slavery which should be remembered and still mentioned when talking about important people in our nation’s history. When commenting on this specific incident in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro, said, “[Trump] will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history.” This comes as other government officials in the area have also called out the order and have said it is an effort to cover up American history and have reasoned that history can not be forgotten just because it was a horrific stain on our past.
This order is not only affecting African American history, but also removing awareness of the environmental danger our planet is in, with plaques about the dangers of global warming and how trees store carbon dioxide being removed from a California park. This is also about the case with Lowell National Historic Park in Massachusetts that was ordered to stop showing films about the women and immigrants who worked in the textile mills. There is no low to which the Trump Administration will stoop to white wash history. Trump views this order as a strong advancement and to make a more positive view of American history but has instead caused concern for the rich history of the United States that includes both the highs and lows that can be learned from.
Lyon Life 