As Trump Recasts History, a Civil Rights Museum Sticks to a Messy Pas
Workers at the newly reimagined National Center for Civil and Human Rights were busy on a recent afternoon assembling an exhibit that begins with a rush of progress: The Civil War has ended and slavery is abolished. Black candidates are elected to public office. Institutions of higher learning, like Morehouse College and Atlanta University, are established to serve Black students. The Greenwood District of Tulsa, Okla., emerges as a hub of prosperity known as Black Wall Street.
Then, the exhibit abruptly shifts.
“It’s the story of Black progress and white backlash,” said Kama Pierce, the chief program officer and curator of the exhibit at the center in Atlanta, which is reopening on Saturday after a $58 million overhaul and expansion. “We feel like we’re still in this cycle in this country.”
Much of the history the museum covers is despairing, but its leaders want it to be threaded with hope. After all, unsteady progress is still progress. One display has small cards highlighting ways for visitors to become more civically involved, like volunteering with groups helping refugees or supporting local news organizations.