"At the time of his death, Martin Luther King, Jr. had a 70% disapproval rating," says the President of the National Civil Rights Museum, Dr. Russell Wigginton. Those aspects are important, Dr. Wigginton adds, because "we lift him up, but by the time he died not everyone in our country was applauding him in the fashion that we do now. And, that's part of the story - that's part of the complexity. [The National Civil Rights Museum has] an obligation to make sure that people understand the complexity of him, the movement, and our current times."
Dr. Wigginton joins host Eric Barnes for this week's WKNO/Channel 10 Behind the Headlines with the Daily Memphian's Bill Dries. Dr. Wigginton talks about the mission of the museum, as well as the work being done to teach people history, while also bridging connections with the past to current social and civil rights issues.
In addition, Dr. Wigginton talks about new and future additions to the museum.
