'Woke' US National Park Service removes statue of Pennsylvania's founder to be 'more inclusive'

The National Park Service (NPS) said that its removal would “provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors”.

Penn, who founded Pennsylvania in 1681, was known for his amicable treatment of his slaves.

Welcome Park is located on the site of Penn’s home and is named after the ship that he took from England to the US.

The park was built in 1982 to commemorate the 300^th anniversary of Penn’s arrival.

Whilst some elements of the park will remain, the statue of Penn, alongside the Slate Roof house model, will be removed as part of the rehabilitation plans.

The new plans “include [an] expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia”.

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Officials said the proposal was put together working with members of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, the Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.

If the proposal goes ahead, Welcome Park will retain aspects of the original design, including the street grid, the rivers and the east wall.

It would add a planted buffer on three sides, and a gathering space with some benches.

Members of the public can officially submit comments to the NPS via their from January 8 until January 21.

“The decision by President Biden and his administration to try and cancel William Penn out of whole cloth is another sad example of the left in this country scraping the bottom of the barrel of wokeism to advance an extreme ideology and a nonsensical view of history,” Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler said in a statement.

He said the treaty signed by Penn with Native Americans was historical and with “mutual respect shown between Penn and Native tribes.”

“This issue is also deeply personal to me. The first Cutlers came to Pennsylvania in 1685 on the ship Rebekah, not long after Penn’s arrival in 1682. They came to Pennsylvania because they were Quakers who shared Penn’s view of religious tolerance and peace.”

Cutler said removing the statue creates an “absurd and revisionist view of our state’s history.”