Court Orders And Removed Exhibits Undercut Vance’s Claim That Black History Is Not Being Erased
Vice President JD Vance falsely denied that Black history is being erased from public spaces under the Trump-Vance administration during a tense appearance on “The View,” even as recent federal court orders tell a different story.
Pressed by hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hostin, Vance was asked about the administration’s policies targeting public exhibits, diversity programs and federal workforce changes that critics say have disproportionately harmed Black Americans.
“They’re taking down the actual history that happened in this country. Slavery happened, all kinds of stuff happened, and it seems that it has been very easy for this administration to remove that and also to denigrate Black folks who have worked their behinds off to get this American Dream,” Goldberg said.
Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, added, “Black history is getting erased from public spaces. Black voter districts are being dismantled. Black leaders are being sidelined from our ranks. Where do Americans of color fit in this vision? Because it doesn’t seem like we fit.”
Vance initially appeared to sidestep the question, turning instead to crime statistics.
“The United States of America has seen a radical decrease in violent crimes, sexual assaults, and in murders. We have tried to take the crime issue seriously, in part because we believe everybody, whether you’re Black or white or rich or poor, deserves to live in a safe neighborhood,” Vance said.
Goldberg quickly pushed back.“Where does the crime step in? This is not about crime,” she said.
When pressed again, Vance denied that the administration was working to erase Black history, telling the hosts, “Black history is not erased from public spaces.”
But that answer leaves out a paper trail — and more importantly, a legal one.
Federal Judges Have Already Ordered Removed History Restored
On June 12, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore National Park Service exhibits and signs that had been removed or altered under a directive targeting displays the administration considered disparaging to the country.
The lawsuit, brought by groups representing park conservationists, historians and public history professionals, argued that the U.S. Department of the Interior had engaged in what amounted to a campaign to censor history and science from public spaces.
The ruling came after removals involving exhibits tied to slavery, civil rights, Indigenous history and climate change at national parks and monuments.
Earlier this year, a federal judge also ordered the administration to restore an exhibit in Philadelphia about the nine enslaved people once legally owned by President George Washington. The exhibit had been removed from the President’s House site near Independence Hall before the court intervened.
Those cases make Vance’s claim difficult to square with the record.
Trump’s Executive Order Put Museums And Monuments On Notice
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to review museums, monuments, memorials, parks and other public properties to ensure they did not include content that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
The order accused a “revisionist movement” of undermining the nation’s founding principles and historical milestones by presenting them in a negative light.
Critics say that language opened the door for removing or softening public references to slavery, racism, discrimination and other painful chapters in American history.
Civil Rights Advocates Say The Erasure Is Already Happening
“JD Vance can play confused on television all he wants, but we’ve seen this administration spend 18 months erasing Black history from our military, museums, and monuments,” Brandon Weathersby, a spokesperson for American Bridge 21st Century, told theGrio.
“We’ve seen it all happen with our own eyes, and when Black communities across the country celebrate Juneteenth on Friday, no one is holding their breath for the Trump administration to even acknowledge it,” Weathersby added. “At every turn, this administration has betrayed and left behind Black Americans, and Vance going on TV to deny it doesn’t change a damn thing.”
Patrice Willoughby, chief of policy and legislative affairs at the NAACP, said Vance’s refusal to directly acknowledge the removal of Black history reflects what she called “Jim Crow 2.0.”
“Racism today doesn’t look like it used to, but it’s very much focused on denying that problems exist, and then also eliminating the instrumentalities that would correct them,” Willoughby said.
She added that the attack on Black history has been carried out quietly through the removal of historical frameworks from public spaces and through broader efforts to dismantle programs designed to address racism.
Dreisen Heath, a reparations researcher, policymaker and founder of the Why We Can’t Wait Reparations Network, said the issue is larger than museum panels.
“Erasing Black history from public spaces is not only about what comes off the wall, but it is also about who gets pushed out the door,” Heath told theGrio.
She pointed to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, where signs referencing racial discrimination and white hostility toward formerly enslaved people were removed before a federal judge ordered them restored.
“When Vance says Black history is not being erased from public spaces, we know he’s lying, and we have receipts and court orders to prove it,” Heath said.
