Last week, Joe Biden's administration announced its plan to remove a William Penn statue permanently from Philadelphia’s Welcome Park.
They claimed the Park and Penn himself were outdated and the park needed to be "rehabilitated."
They are now saying the controversial proposal "was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review."
The truth is, they were not prepared for the public pushback. It was strong and swift.
Why is the Left always trying to "rehabilitate" everything and everyone they disagree with?
Be informed, not misled.
"No changes to the William Penn statue are planned," the National Park Service says.
The Biden administration has scrapped its plan to permanently remove a statue of William Penn from Philadelphia’s Welcome Park, claiming the controversial proposal "was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review."
Of course.
Translated: The Federal Government had no idea the public would react as they did.
President Joe Biden's National Park Service announced the reversal Monday evening, just days after it unveiled its "rehabilitation proposal" for the park. That proposal called to replace the Penn statue with "an expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia," which the agency said would bring "a more inclusive experience for visitors."
The National Park Service said:
"Independence National Historical Park has withdrawn the review of a draft proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park and closed the public comment period. The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted. No changes to the William Penn statue are planned."
The administration's U-turn came after Pennsylvania Republicans panned the proposed changes to Welcome Park, which is named after the ship that brought Penn to Philadelphia and includes the site of Penn's home, known as the Slate Roof House. House Minority Leader Brian Cutler said the proposal marked "another sad example of the left in this country scraping the bottom of the barrel of wokeism."
Cutler told the Wall Street Journal the issue was personal because his ancestors were Quakers who arrived in America by ship in 1685, shortly after Penn’s arrival.
The Wall Street Journal reported, "Opponents had criticized the move as ideologically motivated, similar to efforts to remove statues of Christopher Columbus and Confederate leaders." However, in this case, they said the proposal was based on a misunderstanding of the relationship between Penn, a Quaker leader, and Native Americans in the 17th century.
It is true that Penn created treaties and agreements with the Native Americans, which led to peace for a period of time.
However, I seriously doubt that the Left would have given that fact much consideration had they not been publicly called out for once again trying to destroy and erase the true history of our nation.
The Left is obsessed with erasing our national history.
Last fall, the Heritage Foundation published an article that took a closer look at why erasing history is such a big deal to the Left.
They said:
"President Joe Biden posted on Tuesday that “now is the time for all Americans to speak up when history is being erased, books are being banned, and diversity is being attacked.” He’s not necessarily wrong, but the president has it backward. It is his allies who are in a mad rush to erase history.
On that, the president can be schooled by Jaiden Rodriguez, a 12-year-old who attends the Vanguard School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This week, school officials removed Rodriguez from class because his backpack had a patch of the Gadsden flag.
The story is instructive in two ways that are related: First, it shows how far the Left has gone to smear America and its symbols in the single-minded pursuit of erasing cultural attachments to make sweeping societal transformation easier. Second, the abject treatment of Rodriguez by adults who are clearly his intellectual inferiors should make clear to all the unconstitutionality of “inclusion.”
Michael Gonzalez wrote the article for Heritage.
He began with this:
Let’s first focus on the flag. It will be instantly recognized by most, even if they do not know its name. On a yellow background, it has a coiled timber rattlesnake seemingly ready to strike, and the words beneath it read, “Don’t Tread on Me.”
If this sounds a bit familiar, it may be because we talked about it here at the time.
Gonzalez continued:
The flag was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775, with help from another patriot, Benjamin Franklin. Gadsden became a colonel in the Continental Army which liberated this country from British rule. It was then used by some Marines as they went into battle. Americans have long waved it as a symbol of defiance against oppression.
Except Vanguard School officials apparently think the flag represents slavery, because now, everything does. The “educators” at the school, insight scare quotes on purpose, kept young Rodriguez out of his classes until he agreed to take off the supposedly offending patch.
In an email this Monday to Rodriguez’s mother, Eden Rodriguez, an official at the Vanguard School, a charter school in Colorado Springs that is within the Harrison School District 2, wrote: “I am providing you the rationale for determining the Gadsen [sic] Flag is considered an unacceptable symbol.”
The flag, the email said, is “tied to the Confederate flag and other white-supremacy groups, including ‘Patriot’ groups.”
None of this is true, but there was more mind-boggling nonsense from the "educator."
The "educator" then told the "student; "The reason that we do not want the flag displayed is due to its origins with slavery and the slave trade.”
The student's mother educated the educator: "“This has nothing to do with slavery. It’s a Revolutionary War patch. The Founding Fathers stood for what they believed in, against unjust laws, and this is unjust,” added the mother., explaining that Jaiden makes the honor roll and “he wants to get straight As,” something that the suspension will make difficult.
The school administrator, sensing she might be on shaky historical, constitutional, and moral grounds, then gave the just-following-orders explanation that has not exactly panned out in the past. “I am here to enforce the policy that is provided by the district, and you definitely have every right to not agree with it," she said.
Takeaway
Indeed, parents do have "every right" to agree with the Left's attempt to "remake America."
By this time, the Governor had inserted himself into the debacle: "The Gadsden flag is a proud symbol of the American Revolution and an iconic warning to Britain or any government not to violate the liberties of Americans," he said.
Continuing, he said, "It appears on popular American medallions and challenge coins through today and Ben Franklin also adopted it to symbolize the union of the 13 colonies. It’s a great teaching moment for a history lesson!”
But it was too late. The Left had revealed once again what it wanted. First, it looks at the “inclusion” part of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” as a tool to enact unconstitutional language codes that restrict First Amendment rights.
It also seeks to erase American history, especially those iconic symbols that show defiance and national affection by everyday Americans, such as Rodriguez and her intelligent son.
Biden is right. History is being erased, just not in the way he thinks.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.