Civil Rights Museum

So I just got back from Memphis where I've had plenty of inspiration to write and absolutely no Internet connection. I'll try to get as much of this out as I can this week. I say "try" because I will be heading to America's Second Great Internet Black Hole: Kansas City, since my grandfather passed away.

Anywho...

For those less informed, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, and the hotel at which he was shot has been turned into a museum.

That's pretty much the beginning and the end of the problem.

The Museum focuses hugely on Dr. King's death, and yet oh so little on his life. There is a huge exhibit - conveniently placed in the boarding house across the street from which the shot was allegedly fired - about the assassination. You can even look from the bathroom from which the shot was fired across the street to the balcony on which Dr. King was standing. Very morbid.

There was a timeline of King's work in 1968 - juxtaposed right next to a timeline of the alleged assassin. There is an evidence exhibit holding everything from the rifle to the assassin's undershorts. Wall after wall is filled with explanations of the plot and musings about possible conspiracies.

That's right - the dipshit who killed Dr. King gets equal billing.

As for other exhibits...they focused on the wrongs perpetuated against the black community. They highlighted violence. They highlighted strife. There was even a mock prison to show where protesters would be locked up, where visitors can sit and see how terrible it was.

I expected to see a celebration of change, a window into how visionaries can bring new light into dark times. I expected to read about life and hope, not death and violence.

And yet I can't get over this idea that these people studied Dr. King's life - and death - and somehow completely missed his message.