The Trump administration is facing backlash after ending free admission at national parks on the only two federal holidays honoring Black history — Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day — while adding free entry on President Trump’s birthday, June 14. The Interior Department also announced higher entry fees for non-U.S. residents under what it calls “America-first entry fee policies.”
Denigrating Black history “can’t erase the truth,” says Carolyn Finney, who served on the National Parks Advisory Board during the Obama administration. “It’s not going to change how we feel, not just as Black Americans, but Americans in general, about honoring our history.”
We also speak with Audrey Peterman, author of Our True Nature: Finding a Zest for Life in the National Park System, who says “the entire history of America, the entire history of every racial and ethnic group in America, is in the national park system.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Democracy Now! | Radio Free (2025-12-09T13:30:27+00:00) “Honor Our History”: Trump Slammed for Ending Free National Park Entry on Juneteenth & MLK Day. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/12/09/honor-our-history-trump-slammed-for-ending-free-national-park-entry-on-juneteenth-mlk-day/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.