As Ed Scarce reported here, Trump's administration changed which holidays qualify for free entrance to national parks, removing two holidays celebrating Black people and adding the president’s birthday. That tracks for this administration, which is so white it should be called the Whitey McWhiteCracker regime. But now things, of course, have taken another strange turn, with National Parks ordered to check their gift shops for items that support programs like diversity, equity, and inclusion – and remove them.
Interestingly, many of the 63 U.S. National Parks feature names of Native American origin, such as Yosemite, Shenandoah, Zion, and Acadia, highlighting deep ties to ancestral lands, even as the parks themselves sometimes commemorate colonization. But I'm sure Trump's Sharpie can erase all of that.
USA Today reports:
According to an Interior Department memo obtained by the nonprofit advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association, parks have until Dec. 19 to review all retail items sold at on-site outlets run by partner associations and concessionaires.
“In keeping with Secretary’s Order 3416, the National Park Service is conducting a common-sense review of retail items to ensure our gift shops remain neutral spaces that serve all visitors,” the Interior Department confirmed to USA TODAY. “We’re working closely with our partners to make sure this process is smooth and doesn’t disrupt the visitor experience. If any items are found to be inconsistent with the Order, they are being removed from sale.”
Alan Spears, senior director for Cultural Resources at NPCA, says it's not that straightforward. “This is along the lines of the ongoing effort to sanitize, soften or erase history in our national parks,” he said.
...
In March, Trump issued another order, calling on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to take action “to ensure that all public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction 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.” Burgum followed suit with his own order in May and weeks later, visitors at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio reported seeing signs asking them to flag anything that could be disparaging toward America or U.S. history.
The party of small government is creeping into every aspect of our lives, including ICE raids in Democratic cities, schools, and now parks. And this time it's under the guise of being inclusive toward white folks who were never oppressed. Trump's overtaking of the Kennedy Center has made it unappealing. Literally everything connected to Donald is now grotesque, even simple pleasures like visiting the park. He can momentarily erase our history for his supporters, but our past can't be tossed aside by the most repulsive man on the planet, and the next Democratic administration can right these wrongs.
