Letter: Tell the whole truth about Black and white people

If I were a racist who hated white people and wanted to demonize them, and one who glorified Black people and focused only on their suffering at the hands of white people, and I built a museum to express those feelings of racial hatred and vengeance, would it look much different from the museum facilities built by Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative?

Focusing on the atrocities of slavery and segregation and lynching without also noting how they were ended by the efforts of both Black and white people, is not telling he whole truth. Focusing on denial of voting rights without also noting how they were extended, by the efforts of both Black and white people, is not telling the whole truth. Focusing on police brutality and unjust incarceration, and suggesting that only Blacks have been victims of it, is not telling the whole truth.

We should not focus only on what white people have done to Black people. We should also focus on what white people and Black people have done together to reduce injustice and extend freedom for all. Our museums should tell the whole story, and encourage racial harmony, instead of feelings of vengeance and hatred toward the members of any race. We should focus on slavery and segregation and lynching and denial of voting rights and injustice, but we should not suggest that all whites were in favor of them. We should mention some of the whites who were good guys, too.

Daniel Haulman, Montgomery

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Letter: Tell the whole truth about Black and white people