PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More than a dozen people rallied outside the federal courthouse and the President’s House site on Wednesday, calling for displays showing the history of slavery during George Washington’s presidency to be restored.
The rally was organized by the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, which is calling for the panels detailing the lives of nine of George Washington’s slaves to be put back up at the President’s House site at 6th and Market Streets. Federal officials last Thursday removed several panels from the site at the order of the White House, which has described them as divisive.
The city is now suing the federal government over its removal. The coalition
Michael Coard is a founding member of ATAC and hopes to join the city’s injunction to restore the site, while also pursuing separate legal action. Coard said he is filing a lawsuit that he believes will preserve and restore the site long-term.
“We just recently heard that not only is there no plan from the administration to put them back, but it's to replace them and replace them with stories about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree,” Coard said. “And that might sound laughable, but that could happen before July 4.”
Coard said the coalition knew the White House planned to remove the displays, something the president originally wanted done in September, but public opposition delayed the action.
“The public is the reason why Sept. 17 came and went. The public is the reason why we're ultimately going to win.”
Coard said preserving the site is about protecting historical truth for future generations.
“Those who control the present control the past, and they control the past by making up stuff, but we want to make sure children know the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth,” he said.