Harriet Tubman Vanishes: The Quiet Whitewashing of American History

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The Trump administration has removed Harriet Tubman's image and references to enslaved people from the National Park Service's Underground Railroad webpage. Previously included were acknowledgments of the Fugitive Slave Act and the realities of slavery, which have now been replaced by commemorative stamps and vague mentions of "black-white cooperation." These changes are part of a broader effort to reshape American history. While many are distracted by celebrity news, significant historical revisions go unchallenged. The administration's campaign against diversity and inclusion also impacts institutions like the Smithsonian, promoting a sanitized version of history that downplays slavery and racism.


 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Now to another casualty in the Trump
administration's campaign toeliminate DEI.
The National Park just removeda reference to Harriet Tubman
from a Web page about theUnderground Railroad.
Several references to enslavedpeople and the Fugitive Slave
Act of 1850 are also gone.
The Web page now leads withcommemorative stamps of various
civil rights leaders, includingthe phrase black-white

(00:24):
cooperation.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Now I can get on this microphone and discuss, you
know, terrence Howard claimingthat Puff tried to seduce him,
and you know that might be atopic for another time, but in
this particular instance, wewant to talk about how the Trump
administration is movingforward by eliminating DEI and

(00:50):
also by eliminating stuff likepertaining to black history.
As you can see, this is coming,you know, not as a shock that
these things are happening, butit's good to you know, bring
awareness to it when it doeshappen.
Okay, so the Trumpadministration, as you can see,
has made some changes togovernment websites and content

(01:11):
related to American history,particularly regarding the
history of slavery and the civilrights movement.
Specifically, the National ParkService has removed Harriet
Tubman's image and quote fromhis Underground Railroad webpage
and has also altered thelanguage used to describe the
Underground Railroad, removingreferences to enslaved people

(01:36):
and the Fugitive Slave Act of1850.
These changes are seen as partof a broader effort by the Trump
administration to influence howAmerican history is taught and
presented, with the goal ofpromoting a more quote, unquote
patriotic and unified narrativethat downplays the realities of

(01:58):
slavery and racism.
Now, like again, this is not asurprise when we see things like
this.
It's just to bring awarenesswhen we do, and the reason being
is History can be rewrittenSeveral times.

(02:19):
I mean it has been, it willcontinue to be so.
The importance of education inthis particular instance is very
important.
Like I can speak and say thatI've noticed in schools that a

(02:42):
lot of black history is notbeing taught.
In the last past February it'slike a lot of February's have
gone by and I've seen schoolsnot even touch black history.
Um, I've seen schools celebratesuper bowl championships or
having you know, quote unquotespirit days dedicated to it.
I've seen you know other thingsbeing celebrated.

(03:06):
February is Valentine's Day.
I've seen more crafts done forValentine's Day than I have
black history reports.
So you can see that this ishappening.
And, as I often tell people,you know, education doesn't end
at 3.30 or whatever perspectivetime.
You stay in school.
You have to continue to educatechildren as well as ourselves.

(03:30):
There's a lot of history thatwe don't know as adults on these
particular subjects and all.
Now, harriet Tubman most peopleknow the story of Harriet
Tubman and all, but it justdoesn't stop with Harriet Tubman
.
It's a lot of things that a lotof us need to be educated on or
reeducated on so that way wecan teach the next generation

(03:52):
that's coming up.
The broader context of thechanges made in this particular
situation by the National ParkService webpage is that they are
a part of a broader effort bythe Trump administration to
influence how American historyis taught, presented and
preserved.
This includes targetingdiversity, equity and inclusion

(04:13):
programs across federal agencies, as well as issuing new orders
targeting institutions like anda lot of people didn't really
notice the Smithsonian is wherethey're going after next, as
well as the National Museum ofAfrican American History and
Culture.
Now we all know how long andhow hard people fought to get
that open out there inWashington, and now they're

(04:35):
talking about possibly cuttingfunding to those institutions.
The changes reflect an attemptto promote a more again
patriotic and again unifiednarrative that downplays the
realities of slavery and racism,aligning with the
administration's anti-DEImandate.
So again, we have to look atthese things from a broader

(04:59):
perspective and see that, youknow, history can always be
taken away, rewritten as timegoes by.
Generations will forget.
I use the Terrence Howardsituation as kind of a piece to
say you know, we can getdistracted easily.
So when the internet andYouTube and everybody's focusing

(05:22):
on that, nobody's payingattention to something that just
happened not too long ago today, which is what you're seeing
here, and it's the subtlechanges that always get you.
You know, it's never somethingas broad and just in your face
and in one fell swoop.
These are the subtle changesthat happen over time.
So you know, we all know, thatthere were a lot of, you know,

(05:46):
books on black history that werebanned and things of that
nature, and, again, one of thesubtle things that happened as
time goes on.
So this is an important partright now, that, now that you
know you know what do you do.
An important part right nowthat, now that you know you know
what do you do.
So I tell people all the timeplease, you know, go out here,

(06:07):
get these books in your hand,not on the computer, not on the
kindles, all with you know,ipads, whatever you get them on,
even though it's convenient andit's very, it's very good to
have in a pinch when you knowyou just want to.
You know, just have somethingin your hand to say let me read
something real quick.
Those things are good.
And I'm not going to say talkhere.

(06:28):
You know, saying talk like Idon't do it myself, but I'm also
a person me personally thatlike to have a book in my hand.
Why?
Because you never know.
When you have situations likethis, when people control
technology, you don't know whatexactly they can change in any
book that you purchased.
So it's always important totell people to.

(06:48):
You know, try to get a libraryin your house if you can.
Specifically dealing withhistory, specifically dealing
with history, because again,that book that was written so
many years ago might look a lotdifferent, you know, when you
get it on those digitalplatforms.
So it's good to have that.
But I wanted to just jump inand tap in on on this and just

(07:11):
get your thoughts on it.
You know, um, what is yourthoughts on?
You know the, the history ofAmerica.
You know which is our history,speaking as a black man, as well
as many others that contributedto it.
But you know it's specificallyour history that is being
altered.
I just wanted to tap in and getyour thoughts on it to see what

(07:34):
you think about this particularsituation with the Harriet
Tubman being removed from theNational Park Service.
What do you think will beremoved next?
Who do you think will beremoved next?
Drop it all in the comments andif you like this content once
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(07:55):
It might be a small click foryou, but it means a lot to us to
keep this machine going.
Once again, it's Carl Gerardfrom the Only One Mic Podcast
saying peace.