Memorial to civil rights icon at risk amid Trump’s anti-DEI drive

PoliticsOpinion
21 Jun 2025 • 1:41 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

image is not available

  • Donald Trump’’s administration has made moves that could lead to the removal of the Emmett Till national monument, risking public outcry.
  • The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formerly led by Elon Musk, recommended a nearly $1 billion cut to the National Park Service budget.
  • A recent Justice Department opinion grants presidents the right to revoke national monument status, a power not held since the 1930s.
  • These actions are seen as part of Donald Trump’s broader effort to eradicate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values from public institutions.
  • The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, established in 2023, honors the Black teen murdered in 1955 and his mother, a civil rights icon.

IN FULL