I recently got to experience the National Civil Rights Museum for the first time. Located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Motel the museum gets thousands of visitors each year. Some come just to pay vigil to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Others come for the historical education. Still others come to explore the roots and actions of their ancestors. As for me, I went with a goal to see how the National Civil Rights Museum played a role in its urban environment and also to see what new perspectives it could offer.
Touching briefly on the first, the Museum is located in an underdeveloped, heavily isolated part of downtown. Not until just the last few years, with the recent revitalization of the South Main neighborhood, did the Museum get much attention from the surrounding streetscape. It was essentially a destination, utterly disconnected with its community. In part due to the ominous nature of the Lorraine Motel, the once active neighborhood around the adjacent rail yard, soon went into disrepair. That being said, the National Civil Rights Museum is trying to make an effort to bring life to the South Main district of downtown Memphis along with dozens of other partners and institutions. With recent renovations in tow, both the city and the Museum are hoping that more visitors than ever come by.
What I found more interesting and troubling during my visit was the perspective taken by the Museum. Might I remind you that it is called the National Civil Rights Museum. I do not think anyone would argue that it is a museum for it has exhibits, a gift shop, and even some educational classrooms. However, the Museum is neither National nor encompassing of Civil Rights. Except for a few maps showcasing events in Seattle or California or Philadelphia, the museum was fully invested in the South. On top of that, the museum is solely dedicated to the fight for the civil rights of African Americans. There is museum space spent discussing the slave trade that was vital to the Southern agrarian economic system. There is museum space spent documenting sit-ins organized by Southern black college students. There is museum space, and somewhat appropriately due to the location, highlighting Dr. King’s achievements in Southern cities. There is even museum space bringing to light achievements of modern African-American celebrities.
I feel that the National Civil Rights Museum is both misleading and not interculturally competent. Instead it should be called the “Southern Museum for African-American Civil Rights.” A museum of its title should be telling the story of women’s empowerment, of the civil rights of blacks, but also those of Asians in California. It should also be telling the modern-day story of Latino Civil Rights, or that of the civil rights struggle for persons identifying as homosexual. Leave the “Master Narrative” of civil rights that starts with Brown vs. Board and ends with King’s Assassination to the middle school history books. I am glad the Museum is sharing an important voice that often gets neglected, however, going through the Museum is both a microaggression to the civil rights struggles of non-blacks and to civil rights struggles of non-Southerners.
Reflections of an Urbanist 