At the Legacy Museum, facing America's racist past is a path, not a punishment

## Summary
Equal Justice Initiative hide caption toggle caption Equal Justice Initiative In his second term, President Trump has ordered the removal of monuments, plaques and exhibitions related to slavery, and the history of racial injustice in the U.S. Stevenson's nonprofit, the Equal Justice Initiative, opened the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Ala., in 2018, to chronicle slavery and racism in America. Rather, he says, confronting oppression is a path toward liberation. "There is an America that is more free — where there's more equality, where there is more justice, where there less bigotry — and I think it's waiting for us," he says. "But I don't think we can ... create that America while we remain burdened by this history that too many refuse to talk about, too many refused to acknowledge." Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative , which represents children and adults illegally convicted or unfairly sentenced. Equal Justice Initiative hide caption toggle caption Equal Justice Initiative On the march from Selma to Montgomery We've been doing this project where we interview people. … Amelia Boynton Robinson was almost killed by horses and police officers.

## Article Content
NPR
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At the Legacy Museum, facing America's racist past is a path, not a punishment
March 25, 2026
12:03 PM ET
Heard on
Fresh Air
Terry Gross
At the Legacy Museum, facing America's racist past is a path, not a punishment
Audio will be available later today.
Bryan Stevenson stands beside jars that hold dirt collected from sites where Black people were lynched. He is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and the author of
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
.
Equal Justice Initiative
hide caption
toggle caption
Equal Justice Initiative
In his second term, President Trump has
ordered the removal
of monuments, plaques and exhibitions related to slavery, and the history of racial injustice in the U.S. Meanwhile, human rights lawyer
Bryan Stevenson
has been working to ensure evidence of America's painful past is not erased.
Stevenson's nonprofit, the Equal Justice Initiative, opened the
Legacy Museum
in Montgomery, Ala., in 2018, to chronicle slavery and racism in America. A new exhibit, which is both located in and called
Montgomery Square
, begins in 1955 with the boycott of Montgomery's segregated buses and ends 10 years later with the marches from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights.
Stevenson describes Montgomery's buses as "places of real peril" during Jim Crow. Black people were prohibited from sitting in the first 10 seats of the bus, which were reserved for white riders only. Additionally, Black people had to pay in the front of the bus, then go to the rear to board — hoping that the bus driver didn't take off without them. In 1950, a Black World War II veteran named Hilliard Brooks was shot and killed by police after he argued with the driver as he attempted to board a bus.
Race
'Just Mercy' Attorney Asks U.S. To Reckon With Its Racist Past And Present
"Black people couldn't avoid [the buses] because they had to get to work; they had to go to the homes where they served as maids and cooks and domestic workers," Stevenson says. "And it did make the bus this very unique space for how racial apartheid, how segregation and Jim Crow manifested in the lives of virtually every Black person in the community."
Stevenson says he's not trying to "punish America" by talking about slavery and lynching. Rather, he says, confronting oppression is a path toward liberation.
"There is an America that is more free — where there's more equality, where there is more justice, where there less bigotry — and I think it's waiting for us," he says. "But I don't think we can ... create that America while we remain burdened by this history that too many refuse to talk about, too many refused to acknowledge."
Stevenson is the founder of the
Equal Justice Initiative
, which represents children and adults illegally convicted or unfairly sentenced. His 2014 memoir,
Just Mercy
, was adapted into
a film
starring Oscar-winning actor
Michael B. Jordan
.
Interview highlights
On meeting civil rights activists
Rosa Parks
and
Johnnie Carr
Code Switch
The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott
After a couple of hours, Mrs. Parks turned to me, and she said, "OK, Bryan, tell me what you're trying to do." And I told her about our work trying to represent people on death row. I said, "We're trying to challenge wrongful convictions. We're trying to challenge this legal system that treats you better if you're rich and guilty than if you were poor and innocent. We're trying to represent children. We're trying to do something about bigotry and poverty and people who are mentally ill. We're trying to change the way we operate these jails and prisons."
I gave her my whole rap. And when I finished, she looked at me and she said, "Mm, mm, mm, that's going to make you tired, tired, tired!" And that's when Ms. Carr leaned forward and she put her finger in my face. She said, "That's why you've got to be brave, brave, brave." And Ms. Parks grabbed my hand and said, "Will you be brave?" And I said, "Yes, ma'am."
A monument in Montgomery Square pays tribute to the Black women who led the Montgomery bus boycott.
Equal Justice Initiative
hide caption
toggle caption
Equal Justice Initiative
On the march from Selma to Montgomery
We've been doing this project where we interview people. …
Amelia Boynton Robinson
was almost killed by horses and police officers.
Lynda Blackmon Lowery
said she got hit and she passed out. And for 40 years, she assumed that she passed out because she hit her head on the ground. And then when they uncovered documentary footage, she realized that she passed out and she was in that condition because after she fell, she was beaten by state troopers over and over again on the head. But she insisted on getting out of the hospital and being ready for the next march.
Obituaries
Bernard Lafayette, Selma voting rights organizer, dies at 85
I think it's the courage, it's commitment, it is the tenacity, the acculturation to do t

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- I do think it says something again about how we have failed to investigate this really important period of American history. ...

### Areas for Consideration
- I said, "We're trying to challenge wrongful convictions.
- We're trying to challenge this legal system that treats you better if you're rich and guilty than if you were poor and innocent.
- And I just think to confront that kind of threat, with no protection, without an army, with no weapons, takes an extraordinary courage that I feel like we have to access again if we really want to create a more just world, and I think that's the discovery that I'm really inspired by.

### Implications
- NPR Race LISTEN & FOLLOW NPR App Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music iHeart Radio YouTube Music RSS link Race At the Legacy Museum, facing America's racist past is a path, not a punishment March 25, 2026 12:03 PM ET Heard on Fresh Air Terry Gross At the Legacy Museum, facing America's racist past is a path, not a punishment Audio will be available later today.
- We're trying to change the way we operate these jails and prisons." I gave her my whole rap.
- Parks grabbed my hand and said, "Will you be brave?" And I said, "Yes, ma'am." A monument in Montgomery Square pays tribute to the Black women who led the Montgomery bus boycott.
- And the result of that is that there are no Adolf Hitler statues in Berlin.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers black, justice, equal topics. Notable strengths include discussion of black. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1532.