Trump Pays Tribute To Civil Rights Movement In Mississippi

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

JACKSON, Miss. (CBSMiami/AP) — President Donald Trump paid tribute to Mississippi's role in the civil rights movement Saturday at the opening of two new museums in Jackson, the state's capital.

Some black leaders — including civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis — boycotted the event, saying Trump has sown racial division instead of racial harmony. About 50 protesters joined them.

In his remarks to assembled guests, Trump said: "The civil rights museum records the oppression, cruelty and injustice inflicted on the African-American community, the fight to bring down Jim Crow and end segregation, to gain the right to vote and to achieve the sacred birthright of equality."

Trump left before the public opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the adjacent Museum of Mississippi History.

In:
• Mississippi
• Donald Trump
• Civil Rights