For about 10 days in February, I escaped the bitter northern cold of Montreal for warmer climes. One of the most interesting experiences I had (having never been south of the Mason-Dixon line except to visit DC years ago) was a trip to the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, Georgia.

It was interesting not just for what I learned, but for the information they chose to present, and the very personal feel I suddenly got for the civil rights movement. I've done a fair amount of reading for school and learned about a lot of the significant moments in civil rights history in a very abstract way. But until last week, I never had the chance to see and hear people talking about their personal experiences of empowerment.

While the museum itself was very small, it was well-curated. It focussed on the civil rights movement as it developed in Savannah and surrounding areas. There was also a twenty minute documentary interviewing people who had been members of the NAACP in the 1960s.

Some of the facts:
- The local NAACP organized a 16 month boycott of the stores on Broughton (the main shopping strip). This boycott was so effective that several stores actually went bankrupt.
- It worked in part because they spread information using the network of black churches, and in part because they reached out to neighbouring black communities to extend the boycott beyond Savannah's citizenry.
- The boycott forced desegregation of some public places (city parks, public transportation, swimming pools, and restaurants) in 1961.
- Legal segregation of public and private places ended in Savannah in 1963, almost a year before the national Civil Rights bill was passed.
- Several business on Broughton actually closed rather than desegregate.
- There were very few violent incidents in Savannah despite huge problems in the rest of the state.

What fascinated me most of all, hearing first person accounts, was the public relations aspect of the struggle. When organizing the sit-ins, wade-ins, and all the other public protests, leaders emphasized the importance of transgressing while presenting oneself in socially acceptable ways so as to negate and deny stereotypes about black people. Protesters were armed with eloquent defences of their behaviour. Furthermore, they were urged to dress appropriately, speak in quiet voices, avoid using slang, not chew bubble gum, and sit as far away from other black people as possible (so as to prevent any appearance of segregation).

I also learned that one of the biggest campaigns for the Savannah NAACP, apart from desegregation, was courtesy names. When patronizing local businesses or otherwise engaging with the white population, black men and women were called professor or 'fessor, boy, auntie, and other disrespectful titles. This happened years before gay people began to militate for the removal of homosexuality from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), but it strikes me as a parallel fight for recognition of being full, conscious human beings.

The museum reminded me that sometimes, even though laws change, people don't, and that sometimes, what matters most of all is that people change. The civil rights struggle was about much more than changing laws: it was about getting respect and human dignity for black citizens. Given the continued poor relations between black and white in the USA today, I guess I'm still thinking about the lessons we've learned from civil rights.

For extra points, check out this article on the role of civil rights history museums in their communities: http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/0/4/6/2/p104624_index.html