History isn’t always carved in stone. But to tell the inspirational story of our history it has to begin with rock solid truth.

What kind of picture would you have if the jigsaw puzzle you are working on had the blue pieces removed because they were deemed offensive? How warm will you be if the green and red threads are pulled from your sweater? How do you inspire a country by severing the people from their past?

The American story is diverse, complex, uncomfortable, and colorful. And it is inspirational, but only when we embrace our history and tell the whole story.

At Jim Hinckley’s America we strive to share America’s story while avoiding the divisive morass of current political discussion. But there comes a time when not speaking out makes a person complicit. This is one of those times.

The Gathering Storm

Over the last several years, a storm has been brewing in Washington. That storm is about to become a typhoon sweeping though the heart of our national parks, museums, and historic sites.

Under a policy directive from the current federal administration, interpretive signs, exhibits, photos, and panels that tell the honest history about Native American heritage and genocide, slavery and the civil rights movement, and other complex chapters in the American story have been ordered removed, altered, or reviewed for “alignment with shared national values.”

How will it be possible to inspire coming generations with stories of the Freedom Riders, Martin Luther King and John Lewis is we don’t also tell the story of slavery and its role in the nations formative years?

Hubbell Trading Post: A Case Study in What’s At Stake

From the Grand Canyon and Glacier National Park to Big Bend and Zion our shared history is being bleached. It is being sanitized. And it is loosing it’s color, flavor, and the inspiration that made the United States a beacon of liberty, hope, and prosperity for decades.

As an example of the impact that this policy will have on our future consider the venerable Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site near Ganado, Arizona. Founded in 1878, Hubbell Trading Post is one of the oldest continuously operating trading posts in the southwest.

According to an article in the Washington Post, “…. a panel on Ganado Mucho, a Navajo leader known for settling disputes with ranchers, is also listed for changes or removal.” Apparently other exhibits and interpretive panels that reference important Navajo leaders and the complex history of native-settler relations are slated for removal or chage to fit an approved narrative.

This will strip the contextual storytelling from the site. It will eliminate the inspiration that comes from knowing the story of Ganado Mucho and Juan Lorenzo Hubbell. And a narrative bridge connecting Navajo history, the post-exile recovery after the Bosque Redondo, and cross-cultural commerce in the American West will be transformed from a complex legacy into a hollow display. It would even dillute the inspiring story of the WWII code talkers.

What’s Being Removed — And Why It Matters

Across the National Park System, the orders for review or removal have targeted:

• Displays on climate change’s impact (for example, at Glacier National Park).
• Panels on Native American displacement and cultural loss, such as at Grand Canyon and Little Bighorn Battlefield.
• Exhibits on slavery, including the recent removal of slavery signage from Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.

The Smithsonian Institution is altering several or removing exhibits. This is also happening at the National Museum of African Art and 596 books have been removed from Department of Defense schools as well as military academies.

Critics including acclaimed historians, preservationists, and organizations like the National Parks Conservation Association, warn that this amounts to a historical whitewashing. They argue that national parks were created not just to preserve scenic beauty but to serve as storytellers of our country’s layered and sometimes painful past. Erasing or sanitizing interpretation, they say, undermines that purpose and cheapens the visitor experience.

One historian summed it up plainly: “When you start to fiddle around with history, that isn’t what makes a country great. It makes us weaker.”

A Global Context: What History Erasure Looks Like Abroad

The impulse to cleanse history isn’t uniquely American, and it rarely ends neatly.

South Africa — “Rhodes Must Fall” and the Debate over Memory

The 2015 “Rhodes Must Fall” movement in South Africa, originally at the University of Cape Town, called for the removal of a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes. This was part of a broader call to “decolonize” public spaces and educational institutions.

Critics argued that such symbols glorified colonial histories that oppressed black South Africans. Supporters of removal saw it as necessary for transformation. Opponents worried that removing such symbols risked erasing history rather than teaching it.

This debate illustrates a key point. Removing a symbol is not the same thing as erasing history. But that is dependent on if that story is preserved through education, interpretation, and context. When context disappears, as it is in the current removal orders in U.S. parks, the history becomes diluted and looses its value as learning tool. And history then can easily be distrorted to advance an agenda.

Striking a balance between preserving history without celebrating its worst chapters is the challenge.

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Ramifications of Erasing History

History isn’t static. And history isn’t always carved in stone. It’s a living narrative that defines who we are and where we’re going. When we remove context at places like Hubbell Trading Post that link multiple cultures and eras we risk:

• Diminishing educational value: Visitors may walk away without understanding the full complexity of American history, especially Indigenous experiences and environmental change.
• Undermining historical truth: Sanitized parks risk becoming theme parks rather than places of authentic reflection.
• Weakening civic empathy: Honest engagement with hard histories is part of building a more informed and compassionate citizenry.

Knowing the full sweep of our story, tragedies as well as the triumphs, strengthens American identity rather than weakens it.

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Looking Ahead

The debate over signage and historical interpretation at national parks isn’t just about plaques on walls. It’s about how a nation honors the voices of the past. And its about how those voices provide inspiration for future generations.

Places like Hubbell Trading Post stands at the confluence of cultures and epochs. It deserves the fullest possible story, not a censored one.

At Jim Hinckley’s America, we believe that preserving history — honest, difficult, and inspiring — enriches our road trips, our communities, and our shared sense of who we are as a nation. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of this country let’s ensure that its legacy, its greatness is preserved for generations yet born.