Федеральный суд отказал Филадельфии в пересмотре дела о выставке о рабстве в доме президента

Third Circuit denies rehearing in Philadelphia's fight over President's House slavery exhibit - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has denied Philadelphia's request for a rehearing in its legal battle with the federal government over the removal of slavery-related exhibits at the President's House site. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has denied Philadelphia's request for a rehearing in its ongoing legal battle with the federal government over the removal of slavery-related exhibits at the President's House site. The denial marks another setback for the city's effort to have the exhibits restored. The appeals court previously ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to review most of the actions taken by the National Park Service, leading to the dismissal of counts 2-5 of Philadelphia's lawsuit. The city filed suit after the Trump administration directed the National Park Service to remove panels on Jan. 22 that detailed the stories of nine people enslaved at the President's House. READ MORE | Federal government installs reworked panels about slavery at George Washington's Philadelphia home Philadelphia initially secured a court victory when a judge ordered the panels reinstalled. However, after further legal proceedings, the original panels were replaced with new exhibits currently displayed at the site that do not reference slavery. Peggy Compton, a volunteer with Old City Remembers, said she believes the current exhibit presents an incomplete interpretation of the site's history. RELATED | A search for lost ancestry: The story behind Philadelphia's disputed slavery memorial "There is nothing historically inaccurate of what is up here. There is nothing wrong with what they've done. It's just muting that internal tension so fundamental to the opening of the United States," Compton said. Compton read the contents of the removed panels aloud for visitors and said she was disappointed by the court's decision to deny a rehearing. She said she plans to continue sharing the information contained in the former exhibit. SEE ALSO | The enslaved lives behind the President's House controversy "I'd prefer not to see a showdown if we didn't have to; I'd prefer to see a change in the administration, where we are more willing to look at both sides of the issue," Compton said. If Philadelphia chooses to continue the legal fight, the city would need to petition the U.S. Supreme Court. One count of the city's lawsuit remains pending, alleging that the National Park Service breached agreements with Philadelphia. Other lawsuits related to the dispute have also been filed by other groups. Avenging The Ancestors Coalition (ATAC), the group that launched the movement to build the exhibit in 2002, released the following statement on the court's decision: "We believe there is something deeply wrong with what has occurred at the President's House. We fundamentally disagree with the assertion that the new panels are historically accurate. History cannot be considered accurate simply because the information that remains is technically factual if significant facts, context and perspectives have been omitted. The most effective lie is one that strategically includes a grain of truth. An incomplete history is not an accurate history. By removing critical context about slavery, diminishing the experiences of the nine Black men, women, and children enslaved by George Washington at the President's House, and replacing an exhibit specifically created to confront the contradiction between American freedom and American slavery with a more sanitized and censored interpretation, the Department of the Interior and National Park Service have fundamentally altered the story being told at this historic site. ATAC believes the new panels whitewash and sanitize Black history and, as a result, fail to accurately reflect the full history of the President's House and our nation. This is also about accountability and transparency. No President, administration, federal agency, organization or individual should have unilateral authority to determine which parts of our nation's history are worthy of being remembered and which parts can be diminished or removed. The President's House Slavery Memorial was created through years of advocacy, scholarship, public engagement and community involvement. The voices of historians, descendants, community members and the Philadelphians who fought for this memorial must continue to matter in determining how this history is presented."