Smithsonian director tours Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

By SARAH MEARHOFF
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Lonnie Bunch says Americans have always pushed to better the country no matter the current political climate.

After touring the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on Thursday, Bunch says confronting past and present injustice allows Americans to strive for a better future.

Bunch says Mississippi history is not isolated but is symbolic of progress made throughout the country. He says civil rights leaders came to Mississippi because they believed if they could change Mississippi, they could change the rest of America.

The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opened in December alongside the Museum of Mississippi History to commemorate the state’s 200th anniversary as the nation’s 20th state.