Target: Jessica Bowron, Acting Director of National Park Service
Goal: Reinstate free admission for MLK Day and Juneteenth.
The United States honored civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. by establishing his birthday as a federal holiday. For years, national parks have honored this day and several other federal holidays by allowing visitors free admission, until the President of the United States decided that MLK Day – along with Juneteenth, the other federal holiday honoring Black Americans – was somehow not important enough to be part of this longstanding tradition. Which occasion has taken the place of MLK Day and Juneteenth as a free national park visitation day?…President Donald Trump’s birthday.
This audacious move follows several other sleights against minority Americans. Coins commemorating the nation’s 250th birthday recently began circulation. All the coins featured white men, and notably missing were designs approved in 2024 that would have celebrated the contributions of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, as well as a young girl central to the integration of schools and monies honoring women’s suffrage. In their decision to dismiss the recommendations of historians, the administration responded that they would “produce quarters that are far less diverse and more traditional.” Saved from the chopping block, however, was a one-dollar coin featuring President Trump. Not even the decidedly non-controversial topic of typeface fonts was safe from the administration’s war against “wokeness,” aka diversity. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Calibri font long used for official government documents is too “woke” and must be replaced with Times New Roman font. What is the reason why the now-disbanded DEI office recommended the Calibri font?…because it would be easier for people with visual impairments to read.
The deranged attacks on a hallmark of American society, diversity, must stop now. Sign the petition below to demand the leaders of the Land of Liberty start welcoming and celebrating all Americans.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Director Bowron,
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will pass without explicit acknowledgement from the National Park Service. What was once a day for all Americans to come together and enjoy the nation’s beautiful lands is now just another day to make a few quick bucks. The decision to strip the only two federal holidays associated with minority Americans of their free admission status feels very intentional.
From the attempted whitewashing of esteemed museums to the revisionist history of the federal government’s newly unveiled January 6 website, real American values are eroded a little more every day. Do not add to the division. Revalidate the importance of these honored days, restore free admission, and unapologetically demonstrate that unity is a hallmark of the national parks that represent the United States of America.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Soly Moses
