Museum to stay open while bigots slam MLK
A white supremacist group is planning to visit the Museum of Afro-American History on Beacon Hill tomorrow to protest MLK Day, the first such demonstration at the museum since it opened to the public 20 years ago.
“Our concern is to make the building accessible during the time they plan to protest,” said Tracy Gibbs, museum spokeswoman.
A representative of the group, North East White Pride, replied to the Herald yesterday in an e-mail message, saying its representatives will be joined tomorrow by several similar groups.
“We are entirely peaceful and seek only to alert the public to the truth behind the fraud known as Martin Luther King Jr.,” wrote Rob O’Donovan, who runs the group’s Web site.
“We have a history of working with the Boston Police Department, and respect all law enforcement,” he added.
The museum will be open from 10 to 4 tomorrow and the group has indicated it will protest from 1 to 4, creating a three-hour overlap during which visitors may come face-to-face with the hate group.
Boston police and other law enforcement agencies have been in contact with museum officials.
The people who post on the White Pride Web site talk about exterminating certain races. One member posted pictures of his MAC-10 submachine gun, as well as a picture of his toddler holding the gun. In general they oppose integration, immigration and interracial couples.
“Any white blood that is crossed with a lesser race becomes lesser blood and must be destroyed,” O’Donovan wrote in one posting.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is Sunday and the holiday is recognized Monday. The museum is organizing an event Monday at the Old West Church at 131 Cambridge St.
Gibbs said the focus this weekend should be kept on the civil rights icon and the museum.
“A lot of people don’t know it’s here,” she said. “So the holiday is a great way to get the message out.”
Boston Herald
“Our concern is to make the building accessible during the time they plan to protest,” said Tracy Gibbs, museum spokeswoman.
A representative of the group, North East White Pride, replied to the Herald yesterday in an e-mail message, saying its representatives will be joined tomorrow by several similar groups.
“We are entirely peaceful and seek only to alert the public to the truth behind the fraud known as Martin Luther King Jr.,” wrote Rob O’Donovan, who runs the group’s Web site.
“We have a history of working with the Boston Police Department, and respect all law enforcement,” he added.
The museum will be open from 10 to 4 tomorrow and the group has indicated it will protest from 1 to 4, creating a three-hour overlap during which visitors may come face-to-face with the hate group.
Boston police and other law enforcement agencies have been in contact with museum officials.
The people who post on the White Pride Web site talk about exterminating certain races. One member posted pictures of his MAC-10 submachine gun, as well as a picture of his toddler holding the gun. In general they oppose integration, immigration and interracial couples.
“Any white blood that is crossed with a lesser race becomes lesser blood and must be destroyed,” O’Donovan wrote in one posting.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is Sunday and the holiday is recognized Monday. The museum is organizing an event Monday at the Old West Church at 131 Cambridge St.
Gibbs said the focus this weekend should be kept on the civil rights icon and the museum.
“A lot of people don’t know it’s here,” she said. “So the holiday is a great way to get the message out.”
Boston Herald