09.19.25

Ranking Member Huffman Blasts Republicans for Silence on Racist Censorship by Trump Admin, Demands Answers from Park Service

Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Huffman (D-Calif.) berated Committee Republicans for their silence on the Trump administration’s orders to erase history from national parks by removing exhibits about slavery. Huffman also grilled Associate Director of Park Planning, Facilities, and Lands at the National Park Service Michael Caldwell on the order.

 

 

Ranking Member Huffman opened the hearing by calling attention to the recent Secretarial Order that led to the removal of a historically vital photograph.  

"We need to bring up this related issue affecting our parks and public lands that for some wild and unthinkable reason, seems to have become partisan right now. The Trump administration is trying to censor the history told in our national parks and historic sites. This has been happening, they have set it in motion,” Huffman said. “My colleagues on the other side of the aisle throughout this conversation just look the other way and are completely silent – I would argue, completely complicit in what is happening right now.

“Last month, I also asked you folks to justify this ludicrousness, but there has been no response. And in the meantime, the administration is barreling forward with its efforts to undermine how our parks tell the story of the American experience. This is not okay. We've got enough to fight about enough to disagree with in terms of policy. We cannot allow truth to become a partisan fight where one side is trying to literally erase truth from the national discourse. Just this week, Trump ordered the park service to remove signs and exhibits relating to slavery, including this iconic photograph which shows the atrocious violence committed against slaves.

"What the hell is going on here? That someone in this administration directed this photo to be removed from a display?

"Our national parks are not monuments to a single, sanitized version of American greatness. There are places for all of us to confront and learn from the full complexity of our past. True patriotism means acknowledging our nation's history in its entirety, including our mistakes, so that we can learn and grow from it. An honest reckoning with the past is the only way to build a more perfect union. We should all be ashamed that this administration is doing this stuff on our watch, and you folks have been complicit for too long," Huffman concluded.


Huffman grilled Associate Director Caldwell on the order and pushed back against disinformation.

Huffman: “How do you feel about it as a career Park Service person? Should a photo like this ever be censored and removed from American history?”

Caldwell: “Well, I'm certainly proud of my 30 plus years in the National Park Service.”

Huffman: “How do you feel about it?”

Caldwell: “Having served in many sites across the country? Um, we're implementing the Secretarial Order and the department, to my knowledge, has not ordered, instructed, anyone to remove content about slavery.”

Huffman: “Yeah, you're wrong about that. Because this really did happen, so I urge you to look into it. But let me ask you about the process. Who is making this determination of which exhibits, which photographs, which documents, somehow fail to “uplift America” in a way that makes Stephen Miller and Donald Trump happy?”

Caldwell: “There's a separate process involved and a separate team that's working throughout the National Park Service. And I think our team there could get back to the committee and your staff, in terms of any specific requests you have on that process.”

Huffman: “I would welcome that."

In an attempt to backpedal, the majority entered an article into the record where an individual at NPS denied orders relating to the photograph. Federal Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) spoke out to set the record straight:

“Assistant Director Caldwell, I'm going to circle back here with respect to the comments that were made by the Ranking Member of the full committee, because I share his outrage. And I think this committee and the country deserves an honest answer from the National Park Service. You are the Assistant Director. You have served for over 30 years in a variety of different capacities. Are you telling us that this photo was not taken down at Fort Pulaski? Because I've seen nothing from your department that says that the photo was not taken down. I've read the article that Mr. Tiffany just offered to the record, which purports to say that NPS or rather administrative individuals at NPS, did not ask park staff to take it down. [It] doesn't say that it wasn't taken down. And there are anonymous sources, individuals at least, there's some reporting that suggests from NPS park staff that they were told to take it down and that it was taken down. So, we deserve an answer,” said Neguse.

Ranking Member Huffman then entered into the record the September 15th article from the Washington Post which stated that following President Trump's order, Interior Department officials began scrubbing signage.

“Park Service officials have ordered the removal of a photograph illustrating violence against slaves known as “The Scourged Back” at one national park. The article goes on to talk about 30 signs being flagged for removal at Harper’s Ferry. Mr. Chairman, it's important that this go into the record, because during your unanimous consent request, you spoke about the origins of your party, the grand old party. And I'm glad there's still some pride in the anti-slavery origin story of the Republican party. But you are led today by a man that is ordering things like this. A man who said Lincoln should have cut a deal. And I think the record needs to be fair and accurate and truthful, just like the signage at our national parks should be,” Huffman said.

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