'He does not deserve to be in Jackson': Trump's visit to civil rights museum met with protests

Bracey Harris | The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion Ledger

Show Caption Hide Caption Protesters demonstrate near site of Trump's Mississippi visit Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and the NAACP hold a press conference instead of attending President Donald Trump's speech at the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

JACKSON, Miss. — Reiterating their decision to boycott the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and flanked by foot soldiers of the civil rights movement, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and NAACP President Derrick Johnson on Saturday denounced the appearance of President Trump at the state’s new museum.

Lumumba called Trump's stances an affront to the movement’s goals.

“It is my appreciation for the Mississippi martyrs not here — the names both known and unknown — that will not allow me, that will not allow many of us standing here today to share a stage with a president who has not demonstrated a continuing commitment to civil rights,” Lumumba said during a news conference at the Smith Robertson Museum, about a mile from the state’s new civil rights museum and Museum of Mississippi History.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who was scheduled to speak at the event at Smith Robertson, was not in attendance due to travel delays.

Johnson and Lumumba’s perspective represents the quandary that many activists and black Mississippians found themselves in after learning that Gov. Phil Bryant had invited Trump to the museums’ kickoff event.

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Many had hoped Saturday’s ceremonies would be a unifier in a state that was ground zero for some of the pivotal events of the nation’s civil rights movement.

But word of Trump’s possible appearance left many progressives in a bind: They could either not celebrate the museum's opening, or they could attend an event that would provide a platform to a president whom many have called racially divisive — citing his statements in the aftermath of a deadly clash between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., his views against Black Lives Matter, his stance on undocumented immigrants and his opposition to the Affordable Care Act.

“We will never cede the stage to an individual who will fight against us,” said Johnson, the leader of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. “We will not allow the history of those who sacrificed to be tarnished for political expediency.”

During his speech, Johnson brought attention to the Smith Robertson Museum’s previous life as a segregated school for black children in the capital city.

Amos Brown, who sits on the NAACP board of directors, told the room of about 100 supporters that he received his schooling there. He said he doubted Trump’s visit to the civil rights museum would spur the president to think differently.

“Since Donald Trump has not shown up to learn about civil rights and make an apology for his wrongful accusation of the Central Park Five, since Donald Trump has not stood up for our civil rights (and) did not show up when we needed him to speak a word on behalf of blacks who experienced police brutality ... he does not deserve to be in Jackson for the celebration of the civil rights museum opening,” Brown said.

As Trump toured the museum, more than 100 demonstrators gathered on High Street and chanted, “No Trump, no hate, no KKK in the USA.”

Pacing up and down with a megaphone, Alvin Barnes worked hard to keep up the crowd’s energy.

“It’s nothing against the civil rights museum,” Barnes said. “The president doesn’t have initiatives to support civil rights. He’s attacked minorities, whether they be women or Muslims.”

Lumumba expressed hope that the public would still support the museum, which along with the Mississippi history museum cost the state upward of $90 million.

“Trump’s invitation shows the fight for civil rights and equality isn’t done,” said Talamieka Brice, who also helped organize the demonstration against Trump.

Holding a picture of activist Bree Newsome, who was arrested after scaling the 30-foot flagpole on the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse to remove a Confederate flag, Brice visualized her belief that while the museum marks part of Mississippi’s civil rights history, other struggles endure — namely, changing the state flag, the only one in the nation to still have a Confederate emblem.

“We have to put in the work to bring that to fruition,” she said.

Follow Bracey Harris on Twitter: @BraceyHarris