December 8 -- National Civil Rights Museum

The National Civil Rights Museum is at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was shot dead on April 4, 1968. It is a moving place. I can’t describe it properly in words, and no pictures of the inside were permitted.

(The Lorraine Motel, with the entrance to the museum at the left of the photo.)

One half of the museum, attached to the motel, chronicles the history of discrimination against black Americans and the historical struggle for civil rights in this country. An excellent, one-hour audio guide takes visitors through the exhibits. It’s important to allow at least two hours for this because you need to spend extra time looking at the exhibits in detail – something the audio guide encourages.

Across the street, there is a second facility which encompasses the boarding house from which James Earl Ray assassinated MLK. I didn’t get to spend much time in this part of the museum, but I was able to glance at what appears to be an excellent exhibit about the investigation and prosecution of the King murder, and then a large installation addressing the ongoing struggle for civil rights.

(Closer view of the balcony, with the wreath, on which MLK was killed.)

It’s depressing to see how long and hard so many people fought to treat other human beings in vicious, immoral ways. In contrast, it is inspirational to be reminded of those who risked their lives to achieve justice, and who had the moral strength to do so without violence.

This, from Martin Luther King, was new to me: “That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.”