Tribute, tribulation at museum
Trump hails civil rights fight at Mississippi gallery as critics protest
JACKSON, Miss. — President Donald Trump paid tribute Saturday to the leaders and foot soldiers of the civil rights movement whose sacrifices help make the United States a fairer and more just country, though protests surrounding his visit to Mississippi laid bare the stark divisions among Americans about his commitment to that legacy.
As Trump gazed at an exhibit on Freedom Riders at the new Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, demonstrators near the site held up signs that said “Make America Civil Again” and “Lock Him Up.”
Trump spent about 30 minutes at the museums, gave a nine-minute speech to a mostly white, invitation-only audience inside and then flew back to his Florida estate, skipping the public schedule of the dedication ceremony held outside on a chilly day.
NAACP leader Derrick Johnson and the mayor of Mississippi’s capital city said they kept their distance from Trump because of his “pompous disregard” for the values embodied by the civil rights movement.
“Mr. President, we don’t need you in Mississippi to tell us what a civil rights movement is about,” said Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who gathered with activists at an AfricanAmerican history museum about a mile west of the opening to condemn Trump’s arrival.
Johnson, a Mississippian, charged that Trump opposes labor rights, education, health care and voting rights for all Americans. “We will never cede the stage to an individual who will fight against us,” Johnson said. “We will not allow the history of those who sacrificed to be tarnished for political expediency.”
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., an icon of the civil rights movement, also skipped the event.
White House spokesman Raj Shah pushed back against those who have accused Trump of enabling white supremacists in his statements and Twitter posts and promoting tax and health policies that disproportionately hurt minorities.
“It’s a little unfortunate that a moment like this, that could be used for unification and bringing people together, some folks are choosing to play politics with it,” Shah said. “But that’s not going to deter us from honoring heroes in the civil rights movement.”
Trump attended the event at the invitation of Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, who oversees the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, which runs the museum. The president landed in Jackson with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Charles Evers, the brother of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, greeted Trump at the airport.
“These buildings embody the hope that has lived in the hearts of every American for generations. The hope for a future that is more just and is more free,” Trump said.
He added, “The fight to end slavery, to break down Jim Crow, to end segregation, to gain the right to vote, and to achieve the sacred birthright of equality. That’s big stuff. Those are very big phrases. Very big words. Here we memorialize the brave men and women who struggled to sacrifice, and sacrifice so much, so that others might live in freedom.”
Trump called the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “a man who I studied and watched, admired for my entire life.”
The Museum of Mississippi History also opened Saturday, housed with the civil rights museum in another wing of a downtown building. Together, the two museums cost more than $90 million.
The civil rights museum is the only state-sponsored museum of its kind in the nation. Its exhibits explore the history of the movement in the state between 1945 and the 1970s, including major national turning points such as the lynching of Chicago teen Emmett Till outside Money, Miss., in 1955.
Trump was initially expected to speak at a public ceremony outside the building, but the White House said late last week that he would talk to a smaller crowd of about 200 museum donors, civil rights figures and local and state officials inside the museum before flying to his Mar-aLago residence in Palm Beach, Fla.
“There’s not a lot of black people here,” said John Perkins, an 87-year-old Jackson resident and veteran of the civil rights movement who sat in the front with his daughter, Joanie Potter.
Blocks away, demonstrators lined High Street with signs as some turned their backs or took to their knees in protest against Trump, who has mocked pro football players who kneel during the national anthem in protests against police brutality.
They included Nicki Nichols, a white resident of Jackson.
“The position of the president of the United States is generally regarded as a respectable individual who strives to ensure the safety and security of the nation, and its citizens,” Nichols said. “Donald Trump has consistently failed to live up to these standards, and has also repeatedly chosen to use his position to belittle not only those whose values he does not support, but to belittle American citizens.”