Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is seeking the public’s help in rooting out from national parks and other recreational sites signs or other descriptions “that are negative about either past or living Americans.”
It’s a wide-ranging order and one that some historians consider misguided.
The 433 units managed by the National Park Service include national monuments, historic sites and other units that illuminate dark chapters in U.S. history. Racism, murder, unjust incarceration, alleged war crimes and more are all part of the American heritage currently curated by the park service.
“In order to do true justice to the history of the United States of America, its government must acknowledge and tell its entire history,” said Valerie Grussing, executive director of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.
