United States House of Representatives member John Lewis announced Thursday that he will not be in attendance to Donald Trump’s visit to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. He joins the ranks of various Mississippi state representatives and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson that are criticizing the visit.
Lewis and Thompson pointed out the irony of Trump’s visit, citing his racially charged rhetoric and comments against women. Specifically, Thompson pointed out his remarks on the National Football League protests and Trump’s comments on women. Earlier this week, the NAACP released a statement saying that Trump was not worthy of attending the event, that his attendance would be an “affront” to the veterans of the civil rights movement. According to the museum website, the ceremony was to commemorate the rich civil rights history of Mississippi during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s.
Lewis was expected to be a key speaker at the event as he carries a unique perspective to the event. The Georgian Democrat was arrested with the Freedom Riders in 1961 and became an important organizer for the Freedom Summer of 1964, which used volunteers to help register voters in Mississippi. As the President-elect, Trump called Lewis “all-talk”, even though he has lived through the very suffering the museum will commemorate.
On the other side of the isle is the Republican Mississippi Gov., Phil Bryant, who has condemned the criticizers. Bryant, who had invited Trump and has been known to work with him, said on Wednesday that he expects more from his fellow statesmen, and that Trump’s presence and speech would be “an honor”. The White House has also sided with Bryant, stating it “unfortunate” that some congresspeople are choosing not to attend.
It is not, however, only Republicans condemning the boycott, but activists as well. Some that are planning to attend have reprimanded Lewis for backing away from the opportunity to challenge Trump. Not attending the event forfeits the occasion to the nation’s most popular racist, and seems to be an unspoken win in the minds of attendees such as Myrlie Evers, who plans to speak against Trump. Evers is the widow of the famously assassinated NAACP leader Medgar Evers.
Thompson, a rare Mississippi Democrat, had spoken out against the event in his own statement after Trump accepted the invitation. In this, he likens Trump’s recent cuts to agriculture, education and housing to the Jim Crow laws of the early 60’s.
