Trump Administration Orders Removal Of Notable Photo Of Formerly Enslaved Man From National Park
The photo of the formerly enslaved man is known as “The Scourged Back.” The image features a man named Peter Gordon and shows his back heavily scarred from whippings. A reproduction of the photo was on display at Georgia’s Fort Pulaski National Monument, per The New York Times. Fort Pulaski was a former Confederate prison camp later taken over by the Union Army.
The move follows a Trump executive order from March that directed the Department of the Interior to ensure national parks don’t contain content that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living” in a push to focus on the country’s “greatness” instead.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | September 17, 2025 5:55 AM
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The executive order is part of the administration’s wider push against diversity, equity and inclusion. The Washington Post was the first to report on the orders.
A National Park Service spokesperson told the Post that materials that “disproportionately emphasize negative aspects” of U.S. history and fail to note “broader context” or “national progress” could “unintentionally distort understanding rather than enrich it.”
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | September 17, 2025 5:53 AM
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The photo is heartbreaking, cruel at its utmost and pure savagery in depicting slavery --and Trump doesn't want you to see it.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | September 17, 2025 5:55 AM
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