New signs ordered by the Trump administration at Manzanar National Historic Site, an incarceration camp where over 10,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants were once imprisoned for their Asian descent, have sparked controversy. Many park advocates and historians have cited concerns over whether or not the signs encourage an erasure of history.
SFGate reported signs include a QR code and a description urging visitors to report “any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans,” and “that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”
On May 20, Interior Secretary Doug Burmgum issued a directive mandating all national parks post the signage. The order complies with President Donald Trump’s March 27 executive order named “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
Trump’s order calls for the Interior Secretary to review if monuments “have been removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology.”
The Durango Herald reports signs with the same description have also been posted at the Amache National Historic Site in Colorado, which also formerly served as a concentration camp. NPR reports other memorial sites across the country—including Civil War landmarks and sites significant to indigenous peoples—have also drawn controversy over the new signage.
Rachel Pawlitz, a spokesperson for the National Park Service, said in a statement to NPR, “This order reaffirms the NPS mission by emphasizing the importance of accuracy in how we tell stories of American history.”
During World War II, over 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants were incarcerated behind barbed wire, due to fears that arose from the Pearl Harbor Attacks. In these camps, men, women and children were isolated from society and subjected to poor living conditions and violence.
Manzanar was designated a National Historic Site in 1992, when President George H. W. Bush signed the legislation and placed it under the stewardship of NPS. Each year, thousands of visitors come to pay their respects and reflect on the historical significance of this important site.
Manzanar Committee co-chair Bruce Embrey expressed his frustration with the directive in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Embrey shared his worries that the signs could encourage efforts to “attempt to whitewash the history of the United States.”
“There’s nothing negative about the presentation of our story or the displays at Manzanar. There’s truth,” he said. “And truth is neither positive nor negative.”
Dennis Arguelles, the Southern California director of the National Parks Conservation Association, told his concerns to SFGATE.
“If this administration has its way, [Manzanar is] probably one of the stories they’d rather see go away,” he said.
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