President Trump's visit to the new Mississippi Civil Rights Museum was met by protests and a boycott staged by several public officials, on Saturday, December 9.
Following days of backlash over the state's Republican governor's decision to invite the President to help break ground on the coveted institution, changes were made so that he wouldn't disrupt the official public opening. Instead, Trump was given a private tour that concluded with him delivering a speech that recognized "the oppression inflicted on the African American community" and cited the names of heroes like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers, in honoring what the significance of the museum.
Meanwhile, about a mile across town from Trump's 40-minute swing through Jackson, Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and other leaders convened at the Smith Robertson Museum, where they held a press conference to condemn the President's visit. Among those who joined Lumumba was NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who summed up his decision to counter Trump's visit by stating: “We will never cede the stage to an individual who will fight against us. We will not allow the history of those who sacrificed to be tarnished for political expediency.”
In the days leading up to the civil rights museum opening up its doors, the President's plans to be in attendance received opposition from Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. Lewis was actually scheduled to make a keynote address during the opening, but he selected to boycott the event altogether over Trump's invitation.
Source: Instagram
