Early this February, the Trump administration was hit with a lawsuit by a coalition of groups led by a far left organization called democracy forward. The groups claim that National Park service policies that the administration put in place erases history and science from our parks, and amounts to illegal censorship.
The lawsuit was filed in Boston, Massachusetts and alleges that directives from both Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have instructed park rangers to remove or alter accurate exhibits in National Parks. The changes in the exhibit were a result of the Trump administration’s executive order: “Restoring Truth And Sanity To American History” at the nation’s landmarks, parks, and museums. The Executive order states, “Over the past decade, 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. This revisionist movement seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.” However, the exhibits targeted show relevant U.S. history and scientific knowledge, including exhibits about climate change and the history of slavery in America. According to the Washington post the administration says “Chargers are meant to remove “divisive” or “ideological” Content and present a more “balanced View.”
Several Major Exhibits were allegedly targeted including the slavery exhibits at the president’s house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Across the country at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, dozens of signs and exhibits critics say were flagged, including a panel that explains how warming temperatures will likely cause the famous “hoodoos” to be more rounded due to more rain and less ice. At Bents Old Fort National Historic Site in Colorado, A sign reportedly describing a family’s “ownership” of enslaved people as well as information on the forced removal of the native tribes was again, allegedly flagged for removal or revision.
The legal complaint that was filed states “The orders and resulting implementation actions ignore Congress’s mandate for how the parks must be managed; erase the history of countless people and communities from public spaces;limit the availability of scientific information relevant to ensuring the long-term preservation of the parks themselves; and impair the mission of the National Park Service to preserve the parks ‘for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations,’”
According to a federal leak of data that was reported by the Washington Post, at the Great Smoky Mountains plaques regarding information on fossil fuels and air pollution were flagged, which means they will be reviewed, possibly leading to removal. This comes at a time where lots of information on climate change is being reversed. Back in 2009, The Environmental Protection Agency’s endangerment finding was a new found resolution to pollutants developing and burning fossil fuels, such as methane and carbon dioxide. These pollutants were now able to be regulated under the Clean Air Act. However as of February of this year the EPA’s argument has switched to say that the Clean Air Act does not give legal authority to regulate greenhouse gasses.
According to NPR writers Jeff Brady and Camila Domonoske, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said at the White House, with President Trump at his side “Under President Trump’s leadership today, the Trump EPA has finalized the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States of America,” The overturning of the Endangerment Act by the EPA, is predicted to have major impacts on our environment. There is now little way to regulate how much pollutant, especially from motor vehicles, is being let out into our atmosphere.
In the city of Philadelphia’s case against the Trump adminstasion , involving the slavery exhibits in the president’s house Federal judge Cynthia M. Rufe ordered the reinstatement of the slavery exhibits, however the major lawsuit filed by the coalition including the National Parks Conservation Association is still ongoing, and yet to have a resolution. According to an OPB and NPR article by Associated Press, the lawsuit states that the permanent exhibit at the Brown V. Board Of Education National Historical Park in Kansas has been flagged because it mentions equity.
With all of this accurate and important information being removed from public sites as well as from federal law, it’s important to do accurate research and bring awareness to issues like the ones the signs and exhibits were highlighting. We talked to Jasmin Reyes Contreras, the Oregon State Representative for the National Student Council, earlier this month and she said, “North Portland does a really good job of highlighting true history. It’s important for people to know history so we don’t repeat our history.” As these legal battles continue, we will see how much of this history remains visible to the public.
