Item from the museum collection (one of the less offensive pieces).
Ferris State in Michigan has opened a Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. The collection is extensive, graphic and utterly horrific, but also historical and educational. I wish, however, it were not a stand alone museum. If there were some way of working this material into a larger collection, giving a broader perspective. I would not say a positive spin, but a sense that this collection is only one part of a broader world. I would not go and make a trip just to see this museum and I certainly can’t imagine school groups going. Perhaps that is one of the benefits of white privilege that I can avoid such material, so I should go, but I just can’t.
Here is a link to an article featuring images of the collection. Be warned they are graphic and disturbing.
