Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Death refocuses black history efforts

Parks' passing adds urgency to drawn-out campaigns to establish African-American memorials and museums.

By Alison Bethel / News Washington Bureau Chief

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WASHINGTON -- The death of civil rights legend Rosa Parks has focused new attention on efforts to construct museums and monuments around the country in honor of African-American history.

For decades lawmakers and civil rights advocates fought for a national African American Museum in Washington, culminating two years ago when President Bush signed legislation establishing the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian.

"The passing of Rosa Parks is really a good example of why this museum is so important," said Lonnie Bunch, newly named director of the museum. "For many people, the civil rights movement was 40 or 50 years ago and so there really is a need for a museum to document that era and make it accessible to Americans."

The national African-American museum is scheduled to be completed within 10 years. The Smithsonian's Native American Museum opened last year, 15 years after it was commissioned.

Paul A. Braithwaite, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Melvin L. Watt, D-North Carolina, and head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said members balked at a 15-year time frame to build the museum.

"The members of the CBC said, 'That is not acceptable.' We have to find a way to expedite the gathering of information and the recordings of history," he said.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, says Parks' death gives members of Congress an incentive to follow through on museum and monument projects. Such projects, he said, are "critical." Conyers said he hopes for a national memorial or statue in Washington in Parks' honor.

Bunch said Parks' death reminds the nation of the sacrifices made by people in the early days of the civil rights movement.

"There were strong leaders in Birmingham and Montgomery and also in Lafayette, La., and part of the challenge is to make sure we remember everyone who was involved in the movement," Bunch said.

"One museum can't even contain all of the memorabilia and all of the history," agreed Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. "While there were national movements playing out, there were local movements. These museums are a part of the way to make sure history is recognized and honored and a great way to tell it to our children. It's also a great way to tell people abroad about our culture."

Last year, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture opened in Baltimore and is the largest museum on the East Coast on African-American history.

Watt noted that Parks is one of several black pioneers to die in the past year.

"With the loss of Ms. Parks and the recent deaths of Judge Constance Baker Motley (the first African-American appointed to the federal judiciary), C. DeLores Tucker (political and social activist) and Vivian Malone Jones (the first black to integrate and graduate from the University of Alabama), America has lost four extraordinary leaders."

While black legislators have been successful in getting legislation passed for a national museum, financial support has been slower for the creation of a Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial. To date, the museum has raised $40 million of the $100 million needed.