Today, I will be writing about the National Center for Human and Civil Rights Museum which is located in Downtown Atlanta. As part of my visit to Atlanta, I went there on Thursday, 12th November 2024. I will be writing my experiences, and answering questions that were given for prompts to start a conversation at the very end of the museum.
Atlanta is home to this museum because of one famous person, known arguably throughout the entire world; Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Famous for his determination, compassion and speeches to the crowd, Luther King Jr grew up in Atlanta, facing severe backlash because of his skin colour. His goal of making America a better place; so that Black people could enjoy a good life, instead of being seperated. Along with various other people, every day, Martin Luther King went on strikes and protests; sitting in “white people only” lunch seats, restaurants, bus seats, and cubicles, trying to tell the government they are making a difference, and they want a change.
In this museum, there were 3 levels; the first one was for signing in, the second one was where you start your journey, and the third floor was about the greater human impact and world impact for Civil and Human rights.
When we went to the second floor, we were immediately greeted by a hostile environment. The organisers had created a set of images, interviews and quotes about people who opposed the black people. Looking back at this, it is very disheartening what they have said about people who are just differently coloured. Various senators, especially people in the south hated black people, and loved segregation. Buecase of their power, lots of people fell under this ‘propaganda’ of thinking the black people were bad, and from there lots of laws that prohibited the black people from living a good, normal life were instilled. Also, black people started to be seperated from white people, as they didn’t want their kind to mix with ‘filthy’ people. The museum also showed different laws that were made, also called Jim Crow Laws, which prohibited black people from marrying a white person, being chained to a white person, drinking water from a white person fountain, the list goes on. During this segment, I heard various interviews going on in the background, which spewed hate for those people with different skin colours. I felt pity that people of our kind had so much hate for another kind just because of their skin colour, not knowing how many negative effects this had on them.
In the next showcase, still on the second floor, we started to hear about Martin Luther King. Born in Atlanta, he wanted to make a difference. He saw that his kind of people were being treated differently, and he didn’t like it. As a Christian Pastor, who gave speeches to fellow Christians who attended his Church, I found that Luther King raised this issue a lot of times to fellow listeners in the Church. Eventually, many people found this issue to be very important, especially the black people, so they started going on strike. They started sitting in White people’s restaurants, going on Bus routes throughout the south of America, and breaking laws by taking over white places on the way (those people were named the Freedom Riders), to holding campaigns, and protests. Various Black people, and other white people who supported them were arrested during these stages. In this part of an exhibit, the organisers had a very fun interactive game. During this part of the exhibit, you sat on the table,and pretended to be a black person that was protesting, by sitting down on a white person’s table, like they did back in the day. Then, you had to put some headphones on, put your hands down, and close your eyes. The headphones would play accurate recordings of what those black people would hear while doing these acts. It included glass breaking, being hit thoroughly, and people trying to convince you to get out of there. Trust me, it was super difficult. The audio was so accurate that you felt you were actually in that exact place and time, being beat up, as you couldn’t hear anything else. Although this was terrorising, it was a stark reminder of what the black people had to do and suffer in order to be considered a part of society. During this showcase, there were also images and videos about people describing their journey and experiences who did acts like these.
In the next showcase, there were images of people who had died because of white people. During this time where they were various protests from Black people, some of those people actually had to suffer as well, apart from the beating and torture they would get during the protests. One example of this was a church bombing. 4 coloured kids who were in a church, not interfering with anything were tragically killed because of the hatred of a white person. 4 innocent children who were just signing in church. This memorial is haunting because they have a voice of 4 children singing innocently, yet they were the ones who were killed. In this showcase, there were various other examples of people who were fighting for their race, or simply just a black person that were killed. This exhbit has haunted me since I saw it becuase of the emotion that gets to you when you see it. Innocent people being killed.
(Above) An image of people trying to sit down while listening to the audience, as described above.
Following that, the bleak emotion continues. This time, we see the exhibit of Martin Luther King’s death. Even as great as a leader he was, he had to die. As many of you know, he was assassinated, at Memphis, one of the crime capitals of USA. King actually planned to go to Memphis, even though it was very hostile to him, because of his love for speaking and spreading his word. Unfortunately, this was the place where he was assassinated. He was shot, at approximately 6:01pm. This room as well haunted me, as TV’s showed various news reporters speaking about the death, there was a wanted poster of Luther King’s murderer, and people reacting to what happened. All of it was very tragic. But beyond the sadness, we also got to see images of his family looking at his dead body, his death certificate, and his speech about what he wanted to happen at his funeral; nothing glamorous, he said, he just wanted to be remembered as a person that helped other black people.
On level 3, after wrapping up the struggles of the black people, was a museum about human rights and civil rights. Here, it explained the difference between the two, and then showed various people that are doing something to help an aspect of civil or human rights, whether it be advocating for something, or creating a change. We also saw some wretched leaders of our time, for example Adolph Hitler, who killed Jewish people, or Pol Pot, who did the same with Colombians. I also learnt about different countries and how much they value human rights. Lots of the countries in Europe, Ocienia, and North America value their human rights a lot, but not that much in South America, Asia and Africa, according to the Map. Finally, I learnt how to have a clean ‘Human Rights Footprint’, which means buying things that are friendly to human rights, and things that are not made from abusing people, such as specific soccer balls, which are made by Pakistani Slaves who sit for hours, with a sharp sewing needle, cramping their back.
(Above) An image of the Human Rights Part, on Floor 3
During this visit, my ideas changed a lot about human rights. I realised that they were the rights that everyone got, no matter where they live. However, I also realised that Human rights were very limited. This is becuase people advicate for civil rights more than human rights, becuase civil rights are for citizens of a country, and that is why we find people who have little rights as a whole, because human rights are barely enough, and their country does not have that many civic rights.
In my country, Australia, everyone who is a citizen gets civil rights, and everyone else gets human rights. There are some places where people do not get human rights, such as people who have illegally crossed the border to come to Australia, people who have done illegal things such as crimes, or people that are dead. They get a limited amount of human rights because they have done things that are against the laws, and therefore need severe punishment, which for example, may require taking away their food, which is a human right. Apart from that, everyone else gets human rights, because they are human, and Australia is one of the world leaders in ensuring everyone is treated fairly, and the government does not restrict the citizens rights.
This tour made me wonder about a lot of things. It first made me wonder why so many countries do not really support human rights, or civil rights. Everyone should be receiving this, however people that live in countries that are not a democracy have often limited rights. This trip also made me wonder what people gain from being evil. Throughout this whole trip, we have seen various examples of people being evil, whether it be the white people, or dictators who have killed various people and detained others. Why do they do it?
Overall, this article shares my experience of the National Center for Human and Civil Rights, in Atlanta. I will be posting other things that I will be doing, so make sure to continue reading this website for more insights on my experiences!