S.D. icon puts top presidents in controversy

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — President Donald Trump’s plans to kick off Independence Day with a showy display at Mount Rushmore have angered Native Americans, who view the monument as a desecration of land violently stolen from them and used to pay homage to leaders hostile to Indigenous people.

Several groups led by Native American activists are planning protests for Trump’s July 3 visit, part of Trump’s “comeback” campaign.

The event is slated to include fighter jets thundering over the 79-yearold stone monument in South Dakota’s Black Hills and the first fireworks display at the site since 2009.

But it comes amid a reconsideration of the symbolism of monuments around the globe. Many Native American activists say the Rushmore memorial is as reprehensible as the many Confederate monuments being toppled around the nation.

“Mount Rushmore is a symbol of white supremacy, of structural racism that’s still alive and well in society today,” said Nick Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and the president of an activist organization called NDN Collective.

While some activists, like Tilsen, want to see the monument removed and the Black Hills returned to the Lakota, others have called for a share in the economic benefits from the region.

The four faces, carved into the mountain with dynamite and drills, are known as the “shrine to democracy.”

The presidents were chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum for their leadership during four phases of American development. Washington led the birth of the nation; Jefferson sparked its westward expansion; Lincoln preserved the union and emancipated slaves; Roosevelt championed industrial innovation.

As monuments to Confederate and colonial leaders have been removed nationwide, some conservatives have expressed fear that Mount Rushmore could be next.

Commentator Ben Shapiro suggested this week that the “woke historical revisionist priesthood” wants to blow up the monument. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem responded by tweeting “Not on my watch.”

The Republican governor told Fox News on Wednesday, “These men have flaws. Obviously every leader has flaws, but we’re missing the opportunity we have in this discussion to talk about the virtues and what they brought to this country, and the fact that this is the foundation that we’re built on and the heritage we should be carrying forward.”