February 1, 2026
I was recently saddened to read that the National Park Service is dismantling
“Inappropriate disparage” exhibits about slavery from the President’s House at Independence Park in Philadelphia. The Washington Post first reported the orders handed down by the President to require the Interior Department to identify and change any “memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties that were removed or changed during the
Biden administration.” The Post went on to report that order included any information that may “impart improper partisan ideology such as removal of Confederate-era monuments.”
The orders passed down from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum included National Parks as well as monuments. Readers will recall Bear Ears established as a Monument by President Obama, as a method to protect against vandalism. Sixteen parks were identified in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Signage and exhibits “that encompassed information on climate change, melting glaciers, fossils and geology” were included in the targeted exhibits.
This sanitization of history is being completed as the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th Anniversary. Thirteen items from six exhibits at the Philadelphia location included “Life Under Slavery,” “The Dirty Business of Slavery” and “History Lost and Found”. They were observed being removed, boxed, and driven away in a white Park Service truck.
In Arizona exhibits that refer to the removal of Native Americans by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 instructing them they would have to move to make way for the Grand Canyon National Park are targeted for removal.
An example of an additional sad and disheartening event that is occurring in our Country.
On another note….
Several weeks ago, I shared a story about construction worker, Frederico Duran (Fred), as ICE agents detained and removed him from his vehicle in the State of Washington. His employer Bill Babb, the son of a former high school classmate, reported on Jan. 19 that Fred had been transferred four times, and was then in Kentucky. He had hearings scheduled in Tacoma, WA, and Texas, but was moved to another facility before the hearing dates. Fred had indicated he wanted to return to Mexico to end the ordeal, but continued to be detained.
Bill shared on Jan. 31 that he received a phone call from Fred. Fred had been returned to Mexico. It was the first time he was able to be outside in a month. He was boarding a bus for Guadalajara, about a 12-hour trip. He has siblings and a parent living in the area. Fred’s plan is to find a home and then have his wife and daughters return to Mexico. His children are all U.S. citizens. His eldest, a son, is staying in the United States working as an electrician apprentice for one of the electricians Bill uses in his business at Better Builders.
A somewhat happy outcome, but my soul remains deeply saddened by the dismantling of our democracy and Constitution.
VIEW FROM MY WINDOW is shared by Mary Weaver of rural Rippey.
