By Hodari Brown, Contributing Columnist
On November 25, 2025, the National Park Service (NPS), under the direction of the U.S. Department of the Interior overseen by Donald Trump, announced its 2026 “fee-free” days. Gone from the list: Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. Added instead: June 14 — the birthday of Donald Trump, which is also observed as Flag Day.
Those free-entry days were never just about convenience. They acknowledged the nation’s ongoing reckoning with racism, the legacy of slavery, and the struggle for civil rights. MLK Day honored a man whose vision centered on equality and justice. Juneteenth commemorated the delayed enforcement of emancipation and the long road to freedom. Removing them from the calendar is not simply administrative tinkering — it is a deliberate reshaping of national acknowledgment, a rewriting of priorities, and a loud signal about whose history matters.
And in their place? A birthday. Trump’s birthday.
The substitution is not only tone-deaf; it is deeply cynical. It suggests that public lands and national heritage are being used to elevate the ego of one individual at the expense of holidays that carry profound meaning for millions of Americans. Calling it anything less than discriminatory is to ignore the power politics at work.
What Was Lost and Who’s Excluded
• Access for Black Americans and marginalized communities. Free admission on MLK Day and Juneteenth created symbolic and practical inclusion. For many families, these were rare opportunities to visit national parks without financial barriers. Removing those days weakens that access.
• Recognition of Black history as central to America’s story. Keeping MLK Day and Juneteenth on a national calendar affirmed that civil rights and emancipation are not side notes. Replacing them with Trump’s birthday sends a clear message about the administration’s priorities.
• Faith in fairness and respect for national memory. This move is not a neutral “adjustment.” It is a political statement: If your history challenges the dominant narrative, it can be dismissed. Meanwhile, personal glorification is elevated.
Taken together, this decision becomes more than tone-deaf. It is a brazen act of erasure disguised as administrative policy.
Why It Matters Beyond Free Days
Prioritizing a former president’s birthday over holidays rooted in civil rights and liberation is part of a larger trend: minimizing the experiences and contributions of Black Americans while amplifying nationalism centered on a single political figure.
National parks belong to the public — all of it. They are part of a shared American heritage. Free-admission days are not mere perks; they are opportunities for equal access to the nation’s most treasured spaces.
Removing MLK Day and Juneteenth reduces that access. Adding Trump’s birthday turns public land into a form of personal tribute. That isn’t patriotism. That’s exclusion.
A Pointed Critique: Racism by Policy
Let’s be honest: this is racism by policy — subtle enough to deny, clear enough to recognize.
Removing commemorations tied to Black liberation and civil rights while inserting a self-referential holiday communicates exactly who is valued and who is not. It embeds bias into the national park calendar and transforms a public institution into a stage for personal celebration.
This is not simply careless. It is discriminatory. It implies that Black lives, Black history, and Black remembrance are optional — while ego-driven symbolism is mandatory.
In a nation still grappling with the trauma of slavery, segregation, and systemic injustice, this isn’t a minor change. It is a direct attack on inclusion.
The Stakes Beyond Symbolism
Access to national parks shapes childhood memories, family histories, and a sense of belonging in America’s story. When free days connected to Black culture and history are removed, so is the bridge for many families to experience public lands.
Replacing holidays tied to liberation with a birthday — barely acknowledged as Flag Day by most Americans — is an insult to history and an act of cultural erasure.
A Call to Resistance
This is not about partisanship. It is about justice.
When public institutions elevate vanity over history, exclusion over inclusion, ego over equality, the public must respond. We must demand that national heritage remain open, equitable, and reflective of our full history — not a narrow, glorified version of it.
National parks do not belong to one man. They belong to the people. And no birthday should ever replace a legacy.
Hodari Brown is a licensed minister, military veteran, mental health advocate, and organizational leader.
