Civil Rights Museum

I thought that our visit to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN was a really powerful experience. The museum itself had an almost overwhelming amount of information about the Civil Rights Museum and its leaders, but it also had really interesting ways of presenting all of the information as well. One of the things that I found most compelling was the video of the sit-ins. It was so moving to see people sit at those counters peacefully and endure the jeers and heckling of whites without ever responding to the comments and sometimes physical abuse which people used against them. Though I feel that I would have been tempted to fight back against the angry mobs of whites that attacked the protesters, the fact that they never did showed their commitment to the movement and their faith in Dr. King.

Similarly, I was really moved by the information on student involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. I saw one article which showed hundreds of black students asking for withdrawal forms from their University as a form of Civil Rights protest. This was especially interesting to me because as a young black student today I question whether I would jeopardize my education for any cause. As head of the Black Student Union at Amherst I was often told by professors at the school that the BSU should be more active and should protest things at the school just as previous BSU's had done in the 70s. To me, the lack of activism amongst students today is reflective of the changes that have been made in our society, and thus show progress. However, I do also think that there is a level of complacency among black students today who are hesitant to deal with everyday issues of inclusion on their college campuses. I think one of the reasons for this complacency is that unlike the students acting during the Civil Rights Movement, students today lack a nation-wide movement to confront the problems currently facing black America.