Judge Says Trump’s Attempt To Rewrite History At National Parks Is Illegal

from the America-isn’t-your-playset dept

What’s most disturbing about Trump’s “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order isn’t its fully-blinkered, jingoistic take on American history where America does no wrong and is almost always white right. I mean, that’s pretty awful on its own, but it’s the flip side of pretending whites do no wrong: pretending any victims of whites or any contributors of other races/colors/creeds simply don’t exist.

It’s the sort of thing dictators do. It’s the sort of thing novelists write about. It’s the sort of thing we Americans used to be able to criticize wholeheartedly because our country would never stoop so low as to rewrite history to please whoever was currently in power.

We no longer have the high ground. But we might be able to start making our way back to the top of the hill. It’s not because Trump et al are getting better or smarter or simply a bit less hateful. It will be because the courts are doing what they’re supposed to be doing: slowing this budding fascist’s roll.

A federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered the Trump administration to reinstall displays it removed from National Parks sites over the past year as part of a crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) content and climate change information.

[…]

Judge Angel Kelley sided with the challengers on Friday, finding that the federal government’s action “sets a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization” while undermining the “integrity” of the National Parks system.

The decision [PDF] leads off with the ideal this nation and its national parks are supposed to embody…

Often referred to as “America’s largest classroom,” National Parks serve in that spirit by telling the stories both of those who write history and those who go unheard. The beauty of history is the unvarnished storytelling of a time gone by and the delivery of undeniable truths. The Government’s stewardship of these park sites thus carries a responsibility to present history in full rather than in favored fragments.

… before detailing the hideous destruction being perpetrated by the Trump administration:

Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded these principles. Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this Administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths. In recent months, the Government has torn down exhibits in Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park memorializing the legacy of people enslaved by the country’s first President; removed signage detailing climate threats at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, one of the most environmentally endangered sites in the country; and wiped away descriptions of history and science at countless National Parks across the United States. Not only does this undermine the integrity of the National Parks; it sets a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization.

Dozens of instances of censorship and erased history are listed in the lawsuit. And it’s all the sort of thing you’d expect from this administration:

By the date of the filing of this action, Defendants had removed dozens of signs related to climate change, civil rights, and diverse communities.

[…]

In addition, Defendants have removed multiple signs involving slavery, abolition, immigration,
labor, women’s suffrage, and civil rights…

The court says the order violates the law repeatedly. Not only does it steamroll existing laws governing the National Park Service and its congressional oversight, it fails to justify its own existence with even the briefest nod to serving the public’s interest. Most damningly, the executive order ignores the facts in favor of pushing the administration’s preferred version of US history:

[T]he Order fails to rationally connect any facts to the action taken. It claims that the removals will “restore Federal sites . . . to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage.” However, the Order fails to explain how unearthing and displaying the historical contributions of marginalized groups detracts from celebrating “our extraordinary heritage.” Indeed, the NPS’ purpose in installing these materials in the first instance was to attract new audiences to National Parks by celebrating diverse experiences.

In other words, this executive order is basically just a Truth Social rant pretending to be a lawful directive.

[T]he Order fails to rationally connect any facts to the action taken. It claims that the removals will “restore Federal sites . . . to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage.” However, the Order fails to explain how unearthing and displaying the historical contributions of marginalized groups detracts from celebrating “our extraordinary heritage.” Indeed, the NPS’ purpose in installing these materials in the first instance was to attract new audiences to National Parks by celebrating diverse experiences.

The order concludes by using Trump’s self-serving rationalizations against him, which is exactly the sort of thing I’d love to see more of in future court orders rejecting this administration’s fascist advances:

Because Defendants deemed it important to strip the parks of these undeniable truths in anticipation of the 250th Anniversary of our great Nation, it is equally important that our shared history be honestly told and fully restored by the 250th Anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States.

LOL. Stick that in your White House lawn MMA fight, you asshat. Restore what’s been destroyed, says the court: that would be “truth and sanity,” rather than this steady stream of atrocities this administration continues to inflict on the US.

Filed Under: bigotry, censorship, erasing history, interior department, national park service, trump administration