I have a connection to the South and the civil rights movement that makes me want to visit the new Mississippi Civil Rights Museum museum in Jackson. But not today. Not on the day that our Klanthought-enabling orange Mussolini gave a dedication speech at the place. Today I support those who chose not to be there because the very presence of Donald Trump was an affront to the legacy of those who risked all in the struggle. In spirit I am with all those outside who protested the man’s appearance.
Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississppi, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, and other prominent black leaders didn’t come for the simple reason that Trump has shown himself repeatedly over the years to represent the anti-thesis of what the civil rights movement was about. And today, this unrepentant racist gives the wink-wink and the nod-nod to white supremacists, Nazis, and all their dangerous ilk. His policies and appointees hurt blacks and other people of color in a variety of ways. He combined this trip South to speak at the museum with a campaign boost for Roy Moore, a man who thinks America’s best times were slave times.
If this man Trump were normal in any way, I might agree with Donna Ladd that his appearance at this event in Jackson at the invitation of Republican Gov. Phil Bryant could be a learning experience. But Trump doesn’t learn. Doesn’t want to learn. May at this stage be incapable of learning.
Trump’s speech isn’t worth the effort. We all know that even if it weren’t some tone-deaf eye-roller we couldn’t believe a word of it. Or rather, we couldn’t believe he believes a word of a speech that praised the heroes and the martyrs of the movement for racial equality. Here’s a link to the AP coverage of that speech if you must.
Ladd’s column, however, written before Trump spoke, is worth the effort. First, she writes:
Then the Trump bomb dropped: The governor that much of Jackson distrusts invited the president that Jackson pretty much despises to join them at the museum opening. The capital city moaned, and Bryant condescended back in a tweet: “Mississippi should be proud that @POTUS has agreed to speak…. Let us come together as one Mississippi.”
Black Jackson, and its allies, are not buying it, though — and Bryant’s name is dirt here this week for ruining the event. Hinds County Democratic Party Chairwoman Jacqueline R. Amos (who is black) said that Trump's "campaign appealed to the very worst demons of the American soul," adding that “such a hugely divisive and polarizing figure will pervert and diminish what could otherwise be a healing and teaching moment for our state.”
No kidding. Clueless doesn’t cut it when describing Bryant’s inviting of the pr*sident. The man was born in the Delta. He knows.
Here’s how Ladd concludes:
Bryant sunk a knife in this state’s back by inviting Trump to the museum opening, but we can still hope that the president (and the media gaggle accompanying him) will step inside the museum to comprehend and share the full story of what there is to see here, which is about much more than old Kluckers. They can, and we should, use Mississippi as a mirror to understand the deep roots of racism and poverty in America and how it limits our society now.
We can best honor Medgar and other civil rights soldiers by connecting the dots of America’s brutal race history — and the pieces await in Mississippi. Trump may not bother to do much more than give a speech and pose for a photo, but the rest of us can help make this weekend a teachable, urgent moment for America.
Talking about our past without ever fully confronting it can no longer be an option.
For the record, Trump was at the museum in Jackson for 30 minutes, spoke for 10, then headed back to the Florida compound. As Darlene Superville reported, he was on the ground in Jackson less time than it took him to get there.