STATEMENT: They’re Trying to Erase Our History from the Gift Shop

The fight over books has left the library: National Park Service gift shops. And make no mistake — this isn’t about souvenirs. It’s about censorship.

You’re stepping into a living classroom when you visit a national park. The books in those gift shops aren’t random — historians, rangers, and educators curate them to tell America’s full story, the beautiful parts and the ugly ones. Removing books because they address slavery, Indigenous history, LGBTQ+ rights, or civil rights is not “protecting” visitors. It’s rewriting history.

Sign the petition against banned books today!

This is part of a nationwide wave of book bans. The goal is simple: silence voices, sanitize the past, and control the narrative. If they can erase uncomfortable truths from the park gift shop, they can erase them from the classroom, the library, and eventually, our collective memory.

Let’s be clear:

• Censorship isn’t patriotism. It’s fear.
  
  
• History doesn’t change when you pull a book off a shelf.
  
  
• Our parks are for everyone — so is the truth.
  
  

The National Park Service’s job is to protect and interpret history, not bow to political pressure. Once politicians decide which history you’re allowed to read, the next step is deciding which history you’re allowed to know.

We cannot let our parks become propaganda, truth be replaced with comfort, or our children inherit a country that hides from its own story.

If the shelves start to look empty, understand this: someone made that choice for you. And it’s time to take that choice back.