The U.S. Department of the Interior asks visitors to report anything they see that reflects poorly on “past or living Americans.” The idea is to change history to make it palatable by removing controversial characters or stories.
The signs, already posted at places like Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, come complete with a QR code linking to a government website where visitors can flag content they don’t like. Whether it's a sign, a statue, or a description on a wayside exhibit, if it sounds too negative, you’re invited to report it.
The sign encourages visitors to report "any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features."
It’s part of a larger federal government push to root out what it calls “false reconstructions” of American history and remove any “improper partisan ideology.” While the effort claims to promote unity, critics say it opens the door for an endless stream of subjective complaints about anything that makes someone uncomfortable.
While visiting McMinnville, Oregon, Jay Pearson hadn’t noticed the sign at first. But once he did, the message struck him as more stifling than unifying.
“National parks that have those interpretives … I just think it suggests that we take all that away,” he said. “There’s a deeper history there that’s more important for us to understand each other. So, I think that is not a positive thing.”
Interviewed by Ideastream Public Media, Pearson and his wife frequently visit parks across the country and see them as rare places where Americans can confront their shared past, not just the parts that feel good.
“It is a place for people to come together, and I think it’s the community of America that can come together and read these things about our history,” he said. “Whether it’s good part of our history or one that was challenging at the moment.”
Pearson's reflection might now be subject to a QR code complaint form.
The media outlet sought edification from a Cuyahoga Valley National Park spokesperson.
"Under Secretary’s Order 3431, all national parks—including ours—were asked to take a closer look at monuments, memorials, and interpretive materials to ensure they reflect our nation’s history," Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park Marketing & Communications Director Jennifer Bako said in an emailed statement.
Ideastream Public Media also interviewed Amy Smith and Julie Kinzel. Visiting from Philadelphia, the women were also surprised to learn that the sign was part of national policy. Smith said she worried the signs send a message that criticism of the past, however honest or necessary, makes you un-American.
“We celebrate history. We celebrate the United States,” she said. “My fear would be that they are trying to suggest that people who are anti-American visit the parks, and I’ve never seen that. I can’t imagine that.”
Kinzel, who had recently attended a No Kings protest back home, didn’t hold back.
“I hope that they’re not trying to remove the important parts of history that are vital to where we are today and hopefully better than we were,” she said, “but I think we’re going backwards to tell you the truth.”
Whether or not that’s the intent, the signs offer an easy way to object to anything that offends visitors' sense of patriotism, or your mood that day. And in a nation already hypersensitive to disagreement, the last thing parks may need is an official outlet for finger-pointing over which version of history is most polite.
Some might call it accountability. Others might call it grievance hunting with federal approval.
As Pearson put it: “There’s a deeper history here. And it matters more now than ever that we tell it fully.”
