The museum focuses on the fifties and sixties, but reaches much further back in time as well. My daughter searched for and found photographs of a few white women who played courageous roles in the civil rights movement. As we moved along, however, we were aware that there were few other white people in this museum. Busloads of African American children from Memphis schools, African American couples, families, and individuals . While the Lorraine Motel is a fitting place for a tribute to Martin Luther King and to the struggle for civil rights, it also seemed to us that this museum, so well conceived and executed, should be invited and helped to open another branch of the National Civil Rights Museum right on the mall in Washington, DC This museum should be at the center of our national life.
Civil rights is a national issue.
From the moment the founders of our country fought for freedom from England while they encouraged and profited from slavery, our country has been both a symbol of political rights for the individual and a contradictory battleground. The rights of the individual and the greed and prejudice of the majority have been at war. The history of abuse of the civil rights of African Americans and their fight to obtain their rights is a part of the American story. We should all know and honor this story. It's about us and who we are as a country.