On Friday, May 14, President Biden issued an executive order to revoke several of former President Trump’s policies, including the cancelation of the “Garden of Heroes” project and the elimination of protections outlined for memorials in response to Black Lives Matter and other social justice protests. The Garden of Heroes originally was designed “to establish a statuary park named the National Garden of American Heroes (National Garden).” President Biden’s order revokes both Executive Order 13934 of July 3, 2020 (Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes) and Executive Order 13978 of January 18, 2021 (Building the National Garden of American Heroes), which eliminates the task force and presidential directive for the building of the new park.

Also rescinded is Executive Order 13933 of June 26, 2020 (Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence), which was drafted and produced in response to the uprisings after the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. Trump’s order aimed to override states’ rights and local governments’ abilities in addressing protests predominately led by Black and other Americans of color who seek equal justice and police reform. The order aimed to increase the response from the federal government to address protests that were deemed violent and destructive, including acts that damage or remove public artworks such as monuments and memorials. 

Pictured: A monument to Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, covered in pro-racial justice graffiti. Photo by vividmirage, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.