Interior Secretary: More Diversity Needed In National Monuments–‘Bronze White Guy’ Too Prevalent

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on Tuesday at an event focused on Hispanic-American Entrepreneurship that the national monuments in the nation’s capital need to be more diverse.

“If you drive around Washington, D.C., in every circle and every square you generally see a bronze white guy–sometimes on a horse, sometimes not–you have to work really hard–like in front of the Indian embassy you’ll find Mahatma Gandhi,” Jewell said.

“A handful of women–maybe–if you look really hard–sprinkled around the city, but there are very few places and memorials that tell the story of the rich diversity that has made this country great,” Jewell said.

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Jewell spoke about the role of the Interior Department and the Obama administration’s efforts to make public lands under the department’s jurisdiction more diverse.

“The other thing that President Obama recognizes and began to manifest itself with Ken Salazar’s leadership as secretary of Interior and as continuing throughout the Obama administration, is that we are, through the National Park Service, largely America’s storyteller.”

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On Friday, Obama designated the Stonewall Inn in New York City a national monument. The inn was a homosexual bar where riots took place in 1969 after a police raid.

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Obama said the bar is the “newest addition to America’s national park system.”

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Sally Jewell