President Donald Trump’s war on what he calls “wokeism” isn’t just about removing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from corporations or renaming military bases. Now, it’s about targeting national monuments—including those that honor some of the darkest and most significant chapters in U.S. history.
This includes the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which was designated in 2023 to mark the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett—a brutal killing that shocked the nation and helped spark the civil rights movement. But thanks to a new legal opinion from the Department of Justice, that monument—and all others—could be reduced or even erased.
“We are seeing this effort to erase and reverse history and historic preservation,” said Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association.
Spears was one of the key figures who spent years fighting for federal protections at the three Till sites—two in Mississippi and one in Illinois. Now, with those protections under threat, he says the stakes are higher than ever.
The grave marker of Emmett Till.
According to CBS News, the DOJ opinion allows presidents to revoke or shrink monuments for the first time since the 1930s. And this isn’t just speculation. Monuments like Chuckwalla, the Sáttítla Highlands, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon are already being reviewed. Some, such as Baaj Nwaavjo, are reportedly being considered for uranium mining.
And the threats don’t end there.
Trump’s 2026 budget proposes cuts of nearly $1 billion from the National Park Service. Spears warns that more than 300 park sites, including the Till monuments, could be closed.
National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, who helped designate the Till memorial, called the possibility of closing it “very sad and egregious.”
“People don’t like to look at their past when it shows a negative light of who we are. But we also know that in order to learn from our own history, we have to learn from our past mistakes,” he said.
Rather than confronting that past, the Trump administration seems intent on erasing it. When asked about the monument threat, the White House issued a statement claiming that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is “restoring truth and sanity to depictions of American history,” while also pushing forward with Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill” and restore “American energy dominance.”
“By modernizing how we manage assets and facilities, we’re ensuring our parks can serve future generations even better,” the Interior Department said in another statement to CBS.
But here, “modernizing” appears to mean gutting monuments that honor Black and Indigenous histories.
This is all just part of a larger effort to purge certain histories. Trump’s anti-DEI efforts have ranged from removing LGBTQ+ people from the military—where he also removed diversity language—to threatening private companies over inclusive hiring practices. He reversed the renaming of Fort Gregg-Adams, a military base previously named for two Black veterans, back to Fort Lee—restoring the name of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who fought to preserve slavery.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt addresses questions about why the White House was silent about Juneteenth.
This week, Trump further criticized Juneteenth, the federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery. He complained that the U.S. has “too many non-working holidays.” Notably, Thursday’s White House schedule didn’t include any mention of Juneteenth.
When asked whether Trump would observe the holiday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “I’m not tracking his signature on a proclamation today. I know this is a federal holiday. I want to thank all of you for showing up to work. We are certainly here. We’re working 24/7 right now.”
The pattern is clear: strip diversity from government, whitewash history, and if a monument doesn’t fit the MAGA narrative? Bulldoze it—or profit from it.
While Trump’s DOJ ruling may have opened legal doors, the effort is clearly political. When Biden designated the Till monument, it was praised as a long-overdue acknowledgment of racial injustice. Just over a year later, it’s become one of many federal sites Trump is trying to erase.
“This is turning quickly into a dream deferred,” Spears warned.
Deferred—or dismantled. Either way, history remains under threat.
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