"WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Donald Trump's birthday next year - which also happens to be Flag Day - but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. The new list of free admission days for Americans is the latest example of the Trump administration downplaying America's civil rights history while also promoting the president's image, name, and legacy."
"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. The other days of free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelt's birthday (Oct. 27) and the anniversary of the creation of the Park Service (Aug. 25)."
"Eliminating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were emancipated, removes two of the nation's most prominent civil rights holidays. Some civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news about it began spreading over the weekend. "The raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven," Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media about the new policy."
The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Donald Trump's birthday, which falls on Flag Day, and remove free admission for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. The policy change takes effect Jan. 1 and accompanies other Park Service adjustments, including higher admission fees for international visitors. The 2026 free-admission days will include Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, Theodore Roosevelt's birthday and the Park Service anniversary. Removing Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth eliminates two prominent civil rights observances. Some civil rights leaders criticized the change, calling it racially motivated.
Read at Boston.com
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