Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, a Democrat from Wisconsin, believes America's national parks are inherently racist because they "weren't made for the enjoyment of people who weren't white."
Speaking on the "Black Oxygen" podcast last July, Barnes added that he didn't believe the parks were "welcoming spaces."
"It's important to create more welcoming spaces because things haven't always felt welcome," he said. "And that's historical, just that perspective, given the fact that national parks weren't made for the enjoyment of people who weren't white. National parks are on land that was indigenous."
Yellowstone National Park, America's and the world's first national park, was indeed founded in 1872 for the enjoyment of all people, regardless of race. The 1872 act of Congress setting aside land for Yellowstone explicitly ordered that it was to be "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."
Earlier this summer, Barnes courted controversy when it was revealed that he had called America's founding "awful" during an event in Portage last August.
"Things were bad. Things were terrible," he said. "The founding of this nation? Awful!"
Barnes, who currently serves as Wisconsin's lieutenant governor, is running for election to the Senate against incumbent Republican Ron Johnson.