President Obama proposed that the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture could foster unity in the midst of protests and racial tensions, even as it memorialized the historic oppression of black Americans.
“That’s what this museum explains, the fact that our stories have shaped every corner of our culture,” Obama said at the opening ceremony on Saturday morning. “The struggles for freedom that took place made our Constitution a real and living document, tested and shaped and deepened and made more profound its meaning for all people.”
The president explained the project of the museum by describing a slave block it houses. For years, the block bore a plaque noting what Obama called “the unmemorable speeches of two powerful men” — President Andrew Jackson and Sen. Henry Clay, the legendary Kentucky lawmaker.
“That same object reframed, put in context, tells us so much more,” he said. “As Americans, we rightfully passed on the tales of the giants who built this country, who led armies into battle, who waged seminal debates in the halls of Congress and the corridors of power, but too often we ignored or forgot the stories of millions upon millions of others who built this nation just as surely.”
Obama suggested that the museum could illuminate the protests that have rocked cities across the country in recent years in response to police shootings of black men.
“This is the place to understand how protest and love of country don’t merely coexist but inform each other … how we can wear an ‘I can’t breathe’ T-shirt and still grieve for fallen police officers,” he said.
Obama implied that the history housed there could instruct not just white people, but also black communities as well, by keeping these debates “in proportion” to American history.
“Perhaps it can help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of demonstrators in places like Ferguson and Charlotte,” he said. “But it can also help black visitors appreciate the fact that not only is this younger generation carrying on traditions of the past but, within the white communities across the nation, we see the sincerity of law enforcement officers, officials, who in fits and starts are struggling to understand and are trying to do the right thing.”
