--- description: President Barack Obama spoke at the dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Here is the full transcript title: Read Obama's Speech at the Museum of African American History and Culture image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f77226a40a85c99/6988a760cf40a8dfb3c44f04/barack-obama-museum-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read President Obama's Speech at the Museum of African American History and Culture  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2016 8:07 PM CUT  President Barack Obama speaks at the dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Sept. 24, 2016 in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama speaks at the dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Sept. 24, 2016 in Washington, D.C.Astrid Riecken/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2016 8:07 PM CUT President Barack Obama on Saturday [spoke at the dedication](http://time.com/4506699/president-obama-opening-smithsonian-museum-african-american-history/?xid=homepage "undefined") of the new [Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture](http://time.com/4487318/smithsonian-museum-african-american-history-culture/ "undefined"), praising the coexistence of “protest and love of country” and making reference to recent examples of racial tension in the U.S. “This is the place to understand how protest and love of country don’t merely coexist but inform each other, how men can proudly win the gold for their country but still insist on raising a black-gloved fist, how we can wear an ‘I can’t breathe’ T-shirt and still grieve for fallen police officers,” Obama said. Here are his full remarks from the ceremony on the National Mall: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4506800/barack-obama-african-american-history-museum-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4506800/barack-obama-african-american-history-museum-transcript/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Speech at the Museum of African American History and Culture","datePublished":"2016-09-24T20:07:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:48:38.766Z","description":"\"This museum tells the story of so many patriots\"","url":"https://time.com/4506800/barack-obama-african-american-history-museum-transcript/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","museums","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f77226a40a85c99/6988a760cf40a8dfb3c44f04/barack-obama-museum-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f77226a40a85c99/6988a760cf40a8dfb3c44f04/barack-obama-museum-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"National Museum Of African American History And Culture Opens In Washington, D.C.","caption":"National Museum Of African American History And Culture Opens In Washington, D.C.","creditText":"Astrid Riecken/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4506800/barack-obama-african-american-history-museum-transcript/","name":"Read President Obama's Speech at the Museum of African American History and Culture"}}]}] ```