The City of Brotherly love is not showing any love after an exhibit about slavery was dismantled.
The City of Philadelphia has filed a federal lawsuit after an exhibit honoring the lives of nine people enslaved by President George Washington was removed from a national park in Philadelphia, NewsNation reported.
The outdoor display at Independence National Historical Park was operated by the National Park Service. It was dismantled Thursday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) posted on X.
“[President] Donald Trump will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history,” Shapiro wrote. “But he picked the wrong city — and he sure as hell picked the wrong Commonwealth. We learn from our history in Pennsylvania, even when it’s painful.”
Watch:
Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said it unacceptable to remove a piece of history because it is “uncomfortable.”
“Removing the exhibits is an effort to whitewash American history,” he posted on X. “History cannot be erased simply because it is uncomfortable. Removing items from the President’s House merely changes the landscape, not the historical record.”
The City of Philadelphia filed the lawsuit to have the exhibit restored. The suit names Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron, and the National Park Service.
According to the lawsuit, the city has prior agreements with the National Park Service requiring disputes to be resolved informally through “communication, consultation … or other forms of non-binding alternative dispute resolution that are mutually acceptable to the parties.”
The filing noted the National Park Service and the Interior Department did not communicate with the city and lacked approval to make unilateral changes to the exhibit.
In March, President Donald Trump directed the Interior Department to make sure materials under its jurisdiction do not include content that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
