WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Trump\u2019s birthday next year \u2014 which also happens to be Flag Day \u2014 but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.<\/p>\n
The new list<\/a> of free admission days for Americans is the latest example of the Trump administration downplaying America\u2019s civil rights history while also promoting the president\u2019s image, name and legacy.<\/p>\n Last year<\/a>, the list of free days included Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth \u2014 which is June 19 \u2014 but not June 14, Trump\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n The new free-admission policy takes effect Jan. 1 and was one of several changes announced by the park service late last month, including higher admission fees for international visitors.<\/p>\n The other days of free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s birthday (Oct. 27) and the anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service (Aug. 25).<\/p>\n Eliminating Martin Luther King Jr<\/a>. Day and Juneteenth<\/a>, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were emancipated, removes two of the nation\u2019s most prominent civil rights holidays.<\/p>\n Some civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news about it began spreading over the weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cThe raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven,\u201d Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media.<\/p>\n Kristen Brengel, a spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Assn., said that while presidential administrations have tweaked the free days in the past, the elimination of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is particularly concerning. For one, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups that use the free day to perform volunteer projects at parks.<\/p>\n That will now be much more expensive, said Brengel, whose organization is a nonprofit that advocates for the park system.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only does it recognize an American hero, it\u2019s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up,\u201d Brengel said. \u201cMartin Luther King Jr. deserves a day of recognition. \u2026 For some reason, Black history has repeatedly been targeted by this administration, and it shouldn\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n Some Democratic lawmakers also weighed in to object to the new policy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president didn\u2019t just add his own birthday to the list, he removed both of these holidays that mark Black Americans\u2019 struggle for civil rights and freedom,\u201d said Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. \u201cOur country deserves better.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to questions Saturday seeking information about the reasons behind the changes.<\/p>\n Since taking office, Trump has sought to eliminate programs seen as promoting diversity across the federal government, actions that have erased or downplayed America\u2019s history of racism and the civil rights victories of Black Americans.<\/p>\n Self-promotion has been a Trump hallmark since long before he was elected to the White House and one he has continued in his second term. He very publicly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after himself, sought to put his name on the planned NFL stadium in the nation\u2019s capital and had a new children\u2019s savings program named after him.<\/p>\n Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting his visage on Mt. Rushmore and the $100 bill.<\/p>\n Klepper writes for the Associated Press. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Trump\u2019s birthday next year \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7625,11432,30705,48141,48140,48142,32957,48145,48,52,51,47,50,49,1554,42334,48143,6283,48146,48144,1519],"class_list":["post-85452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-america","tag-americans","tag-birthday","tag-civil-right-history","tag-constitution-day","tag-free-admission-day","tag-juneteenth","tag-kristen-brengel","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-name","tag-national-park-service","tag-new-list","tag-president","tag-rank-racism","tag-several-change","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}