Still, given the recent outbursts of civil unrest that have taken place in Charlotte, N.C. and Tulsa, Okla., following the shooting deaths unarmed Black men by police officers, the president also commented on what the museum can not do. “It’s absolutely breathtaking for me”, said Verna Eggleston, 61, of New York City.
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First lady Michelle Obama hugs former President George W Bush, in an image that has since gone viral.
The first black president of the United States cut the ribbon to inaugurate the striking 400,000-square-foot (37,000-square-meter) bronze-clad edifice before thousands of spectators gathered in the U.S. capital at a time of growing racial friction. “We shouldn’t despair that it’s not all solved”, Obama said, noting all the progress that the country has made just in his lifetime. It reaffirms that all of us are America.
“A great nation does not hide its history, it faces its flaws and it corrects them”, Bush said.
Bush said the museum tells the unvarnished truth, that a country founded on the promise of liberty once held millions of people in chains. “I’m just elated and can’t express how much joy and gratitude I have to be here today and witness history”, he said.
Guests of honor on stage included 4 generations of the Bonner family, led by 99-year-old great-grandmother Ruth, the daughter of a slave who went on to graduate from medical school.
The bell, which dates back to the 1800s, was from the First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Va., a church started by free and enslaved black Americans who would meet in secret. It will return to the church for its 240th anniversary later this year.
The museum, located on the National Mall, officially opened its doors on Saturday.
The NMAAHC is the 19th addition to the Smithsonian network of museums.
Inside, museum officials say they have almost 3,000 items occupying 85,000 square feet of exhibition space.
His remarks seemed to reflect the spirit of the night – that if those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it, then the new museum’s testimony provides a beacon of hope for the future.
See photos from the celebration below.
Saturday at the grand opening ceremony for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, while referencing the recent police shootings, President Barack Obama said, “Within the white communities, across the nation, we see the sincerity of law enforcement officers and officials, who in fits and starts are struggling to understand, and are trying to do the right thing”.
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Of course, the reception was attended by plenty of stars who likely were a million miles from the mean streets of Charlotte – Oprah Winfrey, Harry Belafonte, Jesse Jackson, and record producer Quincy Jones, among others.
