Only One Mic Podcast

Harriet Tubman Vanishes: The Quiet Whitewashing of American History

• One Mic • Season 13 • Episode 3

Share episode

Send us a text


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 Previously included were acknowledgments of the Fugitive Slave Act and the realities of slavery, which have now been replaced by commemorative stamps and vague mentions of "black-white cooperation."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.


 

Speaker 1:

Now to another casualty in the Trump administration's campaign to eliminate DEI. The National Park just removed a reference to Harriet Tubman from a Web page about the Underground Railroad. Several references to enslaved people and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 are also gone. The Web page now leads with commemorative stamps of various civil rights leaders, including the phrase black-white cooperation.

Speaker 2:

Now I can get on this microphone and discuss, you know, terrence Howard claiming that Puff tried to seduce him, and you know that might be a topic for another time, but in this particular instance, we want to talk about how the Trump administration is moving forward by eliminating DEI and also by eliminating stuff like pertaining to black history. As you can see, this is coming, you know, not as a shock that these things are happening, but it's good to you know, bring awareness to it when it does happen. Okay, so the Trump administration, as you can see, has made some changes to government websites and content related to American history, particularly regarding the history of slavery and the civil rights movement. Specifically, the National Park Service has removed Harriet Tubman's image and quote from his Underground Railroad webpage and has also altered the language used to describe the Underground Railroad, removing references to enslaved people and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. These changes are seen as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to influence how American history is taught and presented, with the goal of promoting a more quote, unquote patriotic and unified narrative that downplays the realities of slavery and racism. Now, like again, this is not a surprise when we see things like this. It's just to bring awareness when we do, and the reason being is History can be rewritten Several times. I mean it has been, it will continue to be so.

Speaker 2:

The importance of education in this particular instance is very important. Like I can speak and say that I've noticed in schools that a lot of black history is not being taught. In the last past February it's like a lot of February's have gone by and I've seen schools not even touch black history. Um, I've seen schools celebrate super bowl championships or having you know, quote unquote spirit days dedicated to it. I've seen you know other things being celebrated. February is Valentine's Day. I've seen more crafts done for Valentine's Day than I have black history reports. So you can see that this is happening. And, as I often tell people, you know, education doesn't end at 3.30 or whatever perspective time. You stay in school. You have to continue to educate children as well as ourselves. There's a lot of history that we don't know as adults on these particular subjects and all. Now, harriet Tubman most people know the story of Harriet Tubman and all, but it just doesn't stop with Harriet Tubman. It's a lot of things that a lot of us need to be educated on or reeducated on so that way we can teach the next generation that's coming up.

Speaker 2:

The broader context of the changes made in this particular situation by the National Park Service webpage is that they are a part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to influence how American history is taught, presented and preserved. This includes targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs across federal agencies, as well as issuing new orders targeting institutions like and a lot of people didn't really notice the Smithsonian is where they're going after next, as well as the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Now we all know how long and how hard people fought to get that open out there in Washington, and now they're talking about possibly cutting funding to those institutions. The changes reflect an attempt to promote a more again patriotic and again unified narrative that downplays the realities of slavery and racism, aligning with the administration's anti-DEI mandate. So again, we have to look at these things from a broader perspective and see that, you know, history can always be taken away, rewritten as time goes by. Generations will forget.

Speaker 2:

I use the Terrence Howard situation as kind of a piece to say you know, we can get distracted easily. So when the internet and YouTube and everybody's focusing on that, nobody's paying attention to something that just happened not too long ago today, which is what you're seeing here, and it's the subtle changes that always get you. You know, it's never something as broad and just in your face and in one fell swoop. These are the subtle changes that happen over time. So you know, we all know, that there were a lot of, you know, books on black history that were banned and things of that nature, and, again, one of the subtle things that happened as time goes on. So this is an important part right now, that, now that you know you know what do you do. An important part right now that, now that you know you know what do you do.

Speaker 2:

So I tell people all the time please, you know, go out here, 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 and it's very, it's very good to have in a pinch when you know you just want to. You know, just have something in your hand to say let me read something real quick. Those things are good. And I'm not going to say talk here. You know, saying talk like I don't do it myself, but I'm also a person me personally that like to have a book in my hand. Why? Because you never know. When you have situations like this, when people control technology, you don't know what exactly they can change in any book that you purchased. So it's always important to tell people to. You know, try to get a library in your house if you can.

Speaker 2:

Specifically dealing with history, specifically dealing with history, because again, that book that was written so many years ago might look a lot different, you know, when you get it on those digital platforms. So it's good to have that. But I wanted to just jump in and tap in on on this and just get your thoughts on it. You know, um, what is your thoughts on? You know the, the history of America. You know which is our history, speaking as a black man, as well as many others that contributed to it.

Speaker 2:

But you know it's specifically our history that is being altered. I just wanted to tap in and get your thoughts on it to see what you think about this particular situation with the Harriet Tubman being removed from the National Park Service. What do you think will be removed next? Who do you think will be removed next? Drop it all in the comments and if you like this content once again, please hit like subscribe. Put your notifications on. It might be a small click for you, but it means a lot to us to keep this machine going. Once again, it's Carl Gerard from the Only One Mic Podcast saying peace.