The President’s House Isn’t Ours Anymore. So Let’s Build Something That Is
Graphic by Habib Salami.
OPINION
BY RANN MILLER | Pressing Forward
Let Trump Have It.
Donald Trump wants the President’s House to whitewash history; let him. With apologies to the work of the activist groups who’ve worked to get the story of enslavement told at the site, including the respected Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, I think it’s time we reconcile the fact that this house that enslaved African people belongs to the state. The state refuses to be held accountable.
The federal appeals court that has paved the way for the Trump administration to desecrate (or replace) the acknowledgment of enslavement at the President’s house may as well be the nail in the proverbial coffin for efforts to restore truth to the President’s house exhibit. The court determined that the President’s House falls under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, not the city.
Even if the city of Philadelphia appealed to the Supreme Court and they chose to hear the case, I doubt that the city (and the people) will get the outcome that they’re looking for — restoration of the placards and videos on the nine African people enslaved at the President’s House. The Court has already ruled in favor of the Trump Administration before in its war on all things DEI.
I know that while the President’s House is under federal jurisdiction, it is funded by taxpayers. So, taxpayers theoretically have a say over what is displayed. But Republicanism makes federal control and say over what’s displayed — over the will of the people — possible.
Republicanism is our current system, whereby the government derives its power from the people who elect representatives to serve. Elected officials, particularly the executive, have influence, if not complete say, over how institutions, their activities, and business are conducted. Thus, as the Court ruled, Trump has a say over the National Park Service, which oversees the President’s House.
But the reason for the Trump Administration’s posture towards the President’s House, and all things that announce white supremacy and the hypocrisy of the United States as land of the free and home of the brave, is because what they and much, if not most, of the right seek to implement is a brand of racial republicanism that adapted from its earlier iteration instituted 250 years ago, whereby voting districts are gerrymandered to restrict the will of the voters, Black people specifically, granting majority (if not total) governance control to white people.
To be clear, Black folks have fought back against these attempts with lawsuits, protests, and voter advocacy. Likewise, in response to attempts to whitewash the President’s House, Mayor Parker has said she will continue to fight.
I commend her, although I believe the fight is futile.
As I mentioned previously, the fight over the President’s House, as well as the battle over how American history is narrated and over silencing Black history, means that educators, specifically Black educators, need to preserve history by documenting accounts of Black elders, creating and curating their own libraries and telling/teaching others as part of the oral tradition. But there is something else that can be done … build another memorial.
If the decision to allow the Trump Administration to do what it will with the President’s House stands, the city of Philadelphia should gift a portion of land on Independence Mall, preferably next to the President’s House or someplace close to it, to a non-profit community-based organization and help fund the creation of a memorial to honor the lives of the nine enslaved persons held captive by George and Martha Washington.
I cannot think of a better organization to gift a portion of the land to and to help fund a new memorial than the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition.
It may seem defeatist to relent to the Court in this instance. However, the thing about memorials in the U.S. is that the truth is subject to change according to the power structure’s agenda. \\As fast as cable news networks removed and replaced Black hosts at the conclusion of the Obama presidency, the government can decide to remove and replace memorials of its history that show who this country has been … and continues to be.
If we desire to see United States history told as it should be, it is up to the people to do so: republicanism doesn’t work here. But self-determination does. And sure, I understand how gifting land and funding the creation of a memorial for a Black-led and operated non-profit sounds like a handout … consider it reparations.
BIO: Rann Miller is a writer, author, and educator. A graduate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Rann teaches AP United States History, is the author of Resistance Stories from Black History for Kids, and is an opinion columnist, featured in various news outlets exploring the intersections of race, education, politics, culture and history. You can follow on “X” @RealRannMiller, on IG, and TikTok @realrannmiller.
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