
Donald Trump's wholehearted support of racism is forcing Mississippi's Civil Rights Museum to keep him away from the movement heroes who will attend the opening.

Donald Trump's toxic racism is forcing the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum to hold a separate event to cater to him, away from public scrutiny, on its opening day.

NBC News reports that the White House and local authorities were pushed to create an event segregated from the previously scheduled public ceremony after key civil rights leaders and speakers decided to boycott Trump.

Perhaps seeking to avoid boos and other public expressions of displeasure, Trump will "tour the museum and speak at a private program in the morning, and the public ceremony will begin afterward."


Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, an avowed Trump supporter, made the invitation, apparently unconcerned with melding an event celebrating racial inclusivity with a man who has openly embraced white supremacy.

NBC reports that several people affiliated with the museum "had no idea" the governor had made the offer, and only learned about it earlier in the week.

Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who headed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, is the most prominent figure who recoiled at Trump's invitation.

Lewis issued a joint statement with Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson announcing that they would not be attending. "President Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum," the two representatives noted.

In response, the Trump White House had the nerve to lecture Lewis, insinuating that he does not understand the civil rights movement. Lewis lived the movement, and bled for it.

The NAACP called on Trump not to attend and said his presence would be an "affront" to civil rights heroes.

Chokwe Lumumba — the Democratic mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, and former Secretary of the Navy — and Mississippi Democratic Gov. Ray Mabus also said they would not attend because of Trump.

Trump is a racist who has used the office of the presidency to praise and extol the virtues of white supremacists. He has targeted black athletes for protesting police brutality, while attacking the Latino and Muslim communities.

Through his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, Trump has sought to enable police brutality targeted at minority communities, while attacking programs like affirmative action.

Trump is diametrically opposed to American equality and justice. He tried — as he so often has — to hijack a civil rights moment to polish his tarnished public record. He is again facing a grassroots rejection, and will be forced away from normal Americans. Instead, he will be surrounded in his sycophantic bubble.

As usual.