The National Civil Rights Museum is in the old Lorraine Motel building where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. I visited this museum in 2017 as part of my Alaska trip and described my thoughts at the time here<\/a>. They have since updated some of the exhibits that tell the story of African American abuse and discrimination since the country’s founding that resulted in the Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s and, eventually, to Dr. King’s assassination and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The opening exhibit explained the role of slavery in the economic development and social structure of the country before the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery in 1865, a large timeline exhibit starkly described the abuse of African Americans in the Southern States as they were subjected to oppressive restrictions and deprivation of rights by Jim Crow laws, segregation and racial hatred. The exhibits describe many significant events of the Civil Rights era, some of which I have previously written about, such as the start of the movement with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Strike<\/a>. Peaceful protests, such as the sit-ins at lunch counters in Greensboro<\/a> and marches in Birmingham<\/a> were usually met with police brutality or other violent retribution by white segregationists and brought national focus and condemnation that forced the Federal Government to become involved in enforcing civil rights. The death of Dr. King was a pivotal event in the introduction of national legislation finally giving the rights to African American men that are described in the Declaration of Independence which states , “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that<\/strong> all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since we had missed the boat tour on the Mississippi we took a short walk along the riverside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tonight is our last in Memphis and we are planning a good restaurant meal followed by a final trip to Beale Street to listen to music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thursday, March 28 2024 The plan for today was to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in the morning and take a 90 minute boat tour on the Mississippi River this afternoon. However, the Civil Rights Museum took much more time than we had imagined and we did not make the boat. The National Civil … Continue reading Day 4 in Memphis<\/span> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Slavery-weath-creation.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Slavery-Rum.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Lorraine-Motel-Room-306.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Lorraine-Motel-Exterior.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mississippi-River-Memphis.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n