William Penn was the founder of the colony of Pennsylvania and an advocate of religious tolerance and cultural co-existence. But the National Park Service plans to remove a “statute of William Penn” from a park in Philadelphia located “on the site of Penn’s house,” notes Byron York of the Washington Examiner. It also plans to remove a model of Penn’s house that was the heart of the park.
Left-wing academics have wrongly depicted Penn as an architect of “white supremacy.” “Ironically, William Penn was actually an outspoken advocate for the rights of Native Americans — so much so, in fact, that his name was invoked by Native leaders for generations to come. Penn’s treaty with the Lenape led to 75 years of peace within the colony,” notes Nate Hochman. “Penn went to great lengths to ensure that natives were paid and treated fairly, forged real friendships with many local tribes, and established tribunals to protect their rights,” he observes.
The plans to remove Penn’s statute and house were announced by the National Park Service, which is part of the Department of the Interior. The Interior Secretary, Deb Haaland has pursued some controversial policies promoted by her daughter, whose group seeks “to dismantle” “capitalism” and “hetero-patriarchy” and promote the “rematriation” of land away from whites.
Fox News reports:
The National Park Service announced they will be removing a statue of William Penn from a Philadelphia park commemorating his founding of Pennsylvania, situated at his former home.
The “rehabilitation” proposal for Welcome Park is meant to “provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors,” NPS said in a news release. It “includes expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia,” and was developed in collaboration with representatives from the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, the Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.
The park is named for the ship, Welcome, which Penn took to Philadelphia in 1682. The park was established 300 years later.
As Neil Axelrod notes, “the Biden administration is going to remove a famous statue of the founder of Pennsylvania, who came to America seeking religious liberty and tolerance. And they’re doing it in the name of tolerance.”
Penn was a Quaker. A Quaker climate activist objects to the removal of his statue. She says, “Penn saved so many of our Quaker ancestors who came here from Wales and England, offering them a home to experience freedom of religion. I firmly object to villifying people in our history who made such a contribution to world peace.”
