[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                National Memorial for Peace and Justice

  Finally, Madam President, I would like to add a word about an event 
taking place today in Montgomery, AL. Today in Montgomery, the National 
Memorial for Peace and Justice, dedicated to the legacy of enslaved 
Black people, victims of lynching, and African Americans who have been 
victimized by White supremacy, will open its doors.
  I read about the new memorial in the newspaper. It was touching. It 
was moving. So many innocent people were lynched for no reason--walking 
behind a White woman, other kinds of things like that. Having read and 
watched the accounts about the memorial, it will be a harrowing 
experience. Much like the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, it forces 
visitors to confront the human toll of racism, America's original sin. 
And it allows each county to get a replica of a list on a block--sort 
of like a tombstone--of who was lynched. So maybe those counties can 
look into their souls, too, and do better, as we all can, at trying to 
eliminate racism.
  America's original sin is racism and the vast and terrible numbers of 
African Americans who were brutally murdered for simply being Black. 
This museum forces us, as Martin Luther King did, to look into the 
mirror and see what the country has done wrong and move to correct it.
  I truly salute all the folks who put this wonderful, wonderful museum 
together.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.