The Smithsonian's new African-American history museum opens in Washington, D.C.

An exhibit inside the new National Museum of African American History and Culture
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The National Museum of African American History and Culture, the newest Smithsonian museum, opened to the public in Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning. President Barack Obama participated in the opening ceremony, which was attended by thousands and paired with a three-day festival of African-American cuisine and culture on the National Mall.

In comments at a reception honoring the museum Friday night, Obama referenced high-profile police misconduct cases involving black Americans."My hope is that as people are seeing what's happened in Tulsa or Charlotte on television," he said, a visit to the museum will help them to say, "I understand. I sympathize. I empathize. I can see why folks might feel angry, and I wanna be part of the solution."

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.