Showing posts with label Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Show all posts

Saturday, December 09, 2017

Trump will not speak publicly at opening of Mississippi’s Civil Rights Museum

President Donald Trump will participate in a separate private event at the new Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, on Saturday morning, rather than in the public ceremony. The decision came after the president’s plan to attend the opening erupted into controversy.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the White House agreed to have a separate event after a series of noteworthy civil rights leaders and speakers decided to boycott the event and local groups planned to protest.

Trump will tour the museum and speak at a private program in the morning, and the public ceremony will begin afterward.

"I think this was a diplomatic effort that will help solve this issue," said Mike Espy, a former Mississippi congressman and secretary of agriculture who served since the early 2000s on the state’s committee to establish the museum.

[SOURCE: NBC NEWS]

Friday, December 08, 2017

Bennie Thompson and John Lewis Will Not Attend Mississippi Museums' Opening

U.S. Representatives Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., and John Lewis, D-Ga., will not attend the grand opening of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in protest of Donald Trump making an appearance at the ceremonies. The two released the following joint press release:

“After careful consideration and conversations with church leaders, elected officials, civil right activists and many citizens of our congressional districts, we have decided not to attend or participate in the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

“President Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum. The struggles represented in this museum exemplify the truth of what really happened in Mississippi. President Trump’s disparaging comments about women, the disabled, immigrants and National Football League players disrespect the efforts of Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, Medgar Evers, Robert Clark, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and countless others who have given their all for Mississippi to be a better place.

“After President Trump departs, we encourage all Mississippians and Americans to visit this historic civil rights museum.”

Wednesday, December 06, 2017

John Lewis may not attend Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opening if Trump is there

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said Wednesday he is reconsidering whether to attend this weekend’s opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum after the White House announced President Trump will be there.

“It’s going to be very difficult for me to be there and be on the same platform with him," Lewis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Lewis was scheduled to speak at the museum opening on Saturday in Jackson, Miss. However, he told the newspaper that Trump's attendance would be inappropriate, citing his response to an August white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in which Trump said there was blame on "both sides" for violence that ensued.

“I think his presence would make a mockery of everything that people tried to do to redeem the soul of America and to make this country better,” Lewis said.

Read more: John Lewis says he may not attend Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opening if Trump is there