Lynching Memorial Draws Tourists to a New Kind of Deep South
Photo Credit: The Equal Justice Initiative's memorial to the victims of lynching in Montgomery, Alabama, on July 28, 2018. The memorial is the first of its kind in the U.S. Skift / Sarah Enelow-Snyder
Skift Take
In Montgomery, Alabama, the tourism board and a new memorial to victims of lynching are building off each other's visibility, drawing visitors into a revitalized area of the Deep South they may not recognize.
In Montgomery, Alabama, the Equal Justice Initiative's memorial and museum honoring the victims of lynching — the first undertaking of its kind — is the newest crucial addition to Deep South tourism and black heritage tourism alike.
Despite that EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice (and its accompanying Legacy Museum) confront a harrowing topic from which many people recoil, EJI and the Montgomery Convention and Visitor Bureau are successfully feeding off one another. The former collects rave reviews as a groundbreaking attraction that forces the South to confront its ugly history, and the latter rides a wave of recognition as an up-and-coming destination.
EJI is bringing varied tourists to Montgomery, but also has specific implications for the black travel movement. As the movement flourishes on Instagram, the content leans heavily international, often including heritage trips to Africa. But as history marches on, some black Americans also want to connect with the D
