The Rise of Civil Rights Tourism in America's Deep South
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Version 0 of 1. Editors' pick: Originally published Oct. 20. On a warm afternoon in late September, President Obama stood before a crowd of more than 7,000 official guests, including such notable figures as Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and read the words of Langston Hughes. "I, too, am America," Obama said somberly, repeating a passage from the poet's 1926 book The Weary Blues. The comments were chosen to mark the long-awaited opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., a 400,00 square foot building displaying more than 36,000 artifacts tied to the African American experience in this country. The eloquent and deeply meaningful words written by Hughes and spoken by Obama on that day could just as easily be applied to all of the new civil rights venues and educational offerings springing up in the Deep South these days, places that are working to showcase a part of our country's history that often exists in the shadows, not fully accepted, recognized or seen as central to the American story. By many accounts there is a burgeoning civil rights tourism industry taking shape across the Deep South. The Washington, D.C. museum is just the latest in a string of new and notable offerings. From new museums and memorials, to smartphone apps dedicated to civil rights tourism and multi-million dollar renovations of long existing, iconic museums, the expanding and diversifying tourism opportunities related to this chapter in our history are providing a richer and more extensive exposure to the African American experience then ever before. |