Trump officials order removal of photograph of enslaved man's scars
Source: Washington Post
September 15, 2025 at 5:15 p.m. EDT
'The Scourged Back shows the scarred back of escaped slave Peter Gordon in Louisiana, 1863. (McPherson & Oliver/National Gallery of Art)
The Trump administration has ordered the removal of signs and exhibits related to slavery at multiple national parks, according to four people familiar with the matter, including a historic photograph of a formerly enslaved man showing scars on his back.
The individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media, said the removals were in line with President Donald Trumps March executive order directing the Interior Department to eliminate information that reflects a corrosive ideology that disparages historic Americans. National Park Service officials are broadly interpreting that directive to apply to information on racism, sexism, slavery, gay rights or persecution of Indigenous people.
Following Trumps order, Interior Department officials issued policies ordering agency employees to report any information, including signage and gift shop items, that might be out of compliance. Trump officials also launched an effort asking park visitors to report offending material, but they mostly received criticisms of the administration and praise for the parks.
The latest orders include removing information at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia, two people familiar with the matter said, where the abolitionist John Brown led a raid seeking to arm slaves for a revolt. Staff have also been told that information at the Presidents House Site in Philadelphia, where George Washington kept slaves, does not comply with the policy, according to a third individual.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/09/15/national-parks-slavery-information-removal/
No paywall (gift)
"Price of eggs"?


eShirl
(19,615 posts)the raw truth is too hard to face
DrFunkenstein
(8,832 posts)I really hope someone is taking notes on all the crap these racist POS Trumpers are doing so it can be undone asap.
debsy
(649 posts)They are coming for the Democratic Party.
Paladin
(31,600 posts)trump will have photos of KKK rallies and German-American Bund gatherings at national parks, before it's over.
The Wizard
(13,390 posts)yeah right.
moniss
(8,046 posts)turn the sites into condos.
Deuxcents
(23,980 posts)And light will be shed on them whether the current resident of our White House likes it or not.
Evolve Dammit
(21,217 posts)raccoon
(32,019 posts)Evolve Dammit
(21,217 posts)C Moon
(13,173 posts)BumRushDaShow
(160,037 posts)Jim__
(14,918 posts)Botany
(75,290 posts)Trump is conducting a war on black and brown people not only in America but world wide too.
His and Musks removal of USAID support in Africa had killed > 300,000* Africans by May with
over half of them being children the # of dead by now has to be over a million.
Trump is having a war on people of color end of story and > 30% of Americans are fine with that
because they are racist, sexist, anti-intellectualist, and Christo Fascists aka too his base.
* projections of 14 million dead are very real
. Brain Kilmead must be happy.
USS_Dauntless
(64 posts)I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.
Joinfortmill
(18,908 posts)Solly Mack
(95,671 posts)Bayard
(26,969 posts)"Get it all on record now get the films get the witnesses because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.
trump is that bastard.
BattleRow
(1,790 posts)Thank you.
Thank you 👍
surfered
(9,179 posts)sinkingfeeling
(56,320 posts)Cha
(314,296 posts)I bet Future History doesn't Erase this Violent time in History.
Joinfortmill
(18,908 posts)Gimpyknee
(587 posts)Why is nobody in Congress speaking out against this?
Comic Ari Shaffir has the answer.
thought crime
(781 posts)Republicans are engaged in massive information warfare.
LoisB
(11,617 posts)a full memory of his White House life. I want him in the cotton fields of Ala - goddamn - bama with Simon Legree as his overseer and Willie Lynch as his owner.
kimbutgar
(25,999 posts)I hope another museum snags this picture to keep in their museums.
My son was about 9 years old and we took him to the Smithsonian and he saw the picture and started crying.
Grins
(8,830 posts)The bigotry, racism, desire to rewrite history on full display.
a kennedy
(34,371 posts)


Marcuse
(8,676 posts)
J_William_Ryan
(2,999 posts)such as Trumps are motivated by fear fear of history, facts, and the truth, in this case the truth and facts of Americas past.
And authoritarian regimes such as Trumps attempt to whitewash Americas racist past in an effort to conceal the regimes racist present.
Kid Berwyn
(21,948 posts)From Americas Black Holocaust Museum:
The Scourged Back: This slave named Gordon ran for 80 miles to join the Union Forces in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in March 1863. This famous photo of the welts on his badly "scourged back" was taken while he was being fitted for a uniform.
https://www.abhmuseum.org/the-scourged-back-how-runaway-slave-and-soldier-private-gordon-changed-history/
Clouds Passing
(5,773 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(128,590 posts)If Krasnov thinks he can whitewash history, he has his head up his oversized ass.
LudwigPastorius
(13,385 posts)