The Trump administration is trying to censor history
The Trump administration is trying to censor history
- Fri, May 8 2026 at 2:21 PM
Did you see this, Mark?
Reuters: “US National Park Service removes slavery exhibit in Philadelphia.”
In January, the National Park Service removed the Freedom and Slavery Exhibit from Independence Mall in Philadelphia. The exhibit was at the President's House Site, where George Washington lived when Philadelphia was the nation’s capital. The exhibit described the history of slavery and George Washington's ownership of enslaved people.
Let’s call this what it is, Mark: An effort to censor history. It’s a threat to transparency and public access to information and it can fuel democratic backsliding.
It is part of a broader political agenda that seeks to alter and conceal certain aspects of American history that the current administration doesn’t like.
These actions are driven by political motives to promote a one-sided, overly positive view of American history—often at the expense of accuracy and transparency. Philadelphia is fighting back, challenging the federal government’s attempt to restrict public access to historical knowledge about the nation’s past—and CREW is standing with them.
We submitted an amicus brief urging the court to reject the National Park Service's effort to remove an exhibit about freedom and slavery from Independence Mall in Philadelphia.The Freedom and Slavery Exhibit is an invaluable historical and educational resource. Several million people visit the site each year, a large proportion of whom are schoolchildren.
If the exhibit is removed, they will encounter an incomplete version of American history. The Park Service has removed dozens of public exhibits across the country, particularly those that focus on African American, Indigenous or gender history.
The removal of the exhibit contradicts the Park Service’s mission to present a comprehensive, accurate history and undermines the public’s understanding of our past.
Around the world, efforts to censor discussions about difficult episodes in national history have been closely linked to democratic backsliding.
And this is not happening in a vacuum, with important institutions that helped make our country more just and equitable being targeted and undermined.
Just weeks ago, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, a piece of legislation that played a key role in dismantling Jim Crow.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also going after the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nonprofit whose work helped expose hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.
These efforts to rewrite history and undermine civil rights cannot be allowed to succeed.
Suppressing difficult historical truths hampers informed public discourse and has far-reaching implications for transparency, public access to information and resistance to political censorship.That’s why CREW is urging the appeals court to grant Philadelphia’s request, stopping the Park Service from removing the exhibit and affirming Philadelphia’s efforts to protect the public’s right to an accurate and complete account of American history.
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