Mississippi has made an investment of more than $100 million in public and private funds to tell its story. And from the initial reviews of the Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights museums, it was money well spent.
The joint facilities in downtown Jackson opened Dec. 9 to much fanfare. The highlight was a visit from President Donald Trump.
Forget politics; any time the leader of the free world visits the respect and prestige of that office comes with it, and Mississippi will benefit from the attention Trump brought. And his comments, made to a private audience before the grand opening ceremony, were on point. He lauded the courage of black civil rights leaders and aptly pointed out how Mississippi is a microcosm of this nation’s struggles and hopefully progress on race relations to build “a future that is more just and is more free.”
“This (museum) is an incredible tribute not only to the state of Mississippi — a state that I love, where I’ve had great success — this is a tribute to the nation at the highest level,” Trump said.
That’s part of why the museum’s matter. Mississippi is often unfairly targeted as being the sole source of racism in the United States, while the exact same issues we have grappled with have played out everywhere from Maine to Hawaii. The difference is the problems are magnified here because we have a larger black population than any other state.
The museums are an opportunity for Mississippi to truthfully tell its account, including the incredible hardships that black people in this state faced to gain the equality that they deserved as citizens of this nation, and also how we’ve tried to learn from mistakes and be better in the future. No one can erase the terrible things in this state’s past, but we can push forward to a more united future.
Louis Morgan, a Marion County native and historian who visited the museums during the opening weekend, praised them and encouraged all Mississippians to visit.
“I think everybody in Mississippi should go see each of the museums. I hope that children can go and interact with information and artifacts that are on display. They are very well done. It really is something for Mississippi to be proud of because it tells our story, and it is Mississippians telling our story, not somebody else,” Morgan said.
We agree. The people of this state paid the majority of the construction costs, and more importantly they created the history told in these museums. As a result, everyone ought to carve out some time to go experience our state’s legacy.
— Charlie Smith
