Defender Association of Philadelphia Chief Defender Keisha Hudson and Board President Paul Hetznecker released the following statement on February 4, 2026:
“The Defender Association of Philadelphia stands with the Avenging Ancestors Coalition (AOAC) in condemning the Trump Administration’s attempt to erase Black history. We applaud the immediate efforts to confront this blatantly racist act, which seeks to replace historical truth with falsehoods about our country’s collective past.
“We also commend the Parker Administration for taking swift legal action to seek an injunction requiring the murals’ reinstallation and to prevent any further efforts to destroy or suppress Black heritage.
“Twenty-five years ago, the AOAC—led by attorney Michael Coard—successfully pushed the National Park Service and the City of Philadelphia to tell the full truth about Independence Mall, including the experiences of the people enslaved by George Washington. That work ensured that Black history, and Black pain, were no longer excluded from the nation’s origin story.
“Until last week, the narrative murals at the President’s House served as a permanent reminder that a nation founded on liberty was also built on slavery. Their removal is a deliberate act of erasure—one that whitewashes history and undermines the hard-fought commitment to honesty in our public spaces.
“This action is part of the Trump Administration’s broader pattern of attacks on historical truth. That this legal struggle is unfolding during Black History Month—a time meant to acknowledge and confront the realities of slavery and racism—only underscores the deliberate nature of this erasure. These efforts cause real harm, weakening our collective understanding of how this country was built—and who paid the price.
“This moment demands collective resistance. The Defender Association stands with all those committed to racial justice and calls on others to speak out against the erasure of Black history and culture, which are inseparable from American history and culture. Telling the full truth about our past is essential to building a more just future.”
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