Obama names Ray Allen to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council

In the final weeks of his administration, President Barack Obama appointed four people to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council on Thursday, including former NBA player Ray Allen.

In April 2010, Allen joined the "Voices of Antisemitism" podcast to talk about the museum's influence on his life, noting coming from a military family, he grew up experiencing many "different perspectives." By his own accord, he didn't experience racism until the family moved to South Carolina.

"And, you know, it was the first time in my life that people just didn't like me because I wasn't like them, I didn't come from where they came from," Allen said. "So I always said that when I started playing basketball, and I was getting better at it, that the people who I hang around with, I'm going to bridge the gaps."

Allen has visited the museum several times, often bringing teammates along. At the time of the podcast, he'd already been four-plus times, taking different people each time.

"You take any person through the Museum, based on their experiences and their life, they're going to see different things," he said of the museum in 2010. "And they're going to talk about the things they want to talk about. But I think the most important thing is communication. That's a powerful, powerful tool, just talking about it and trying to understand it, and learn from it, and grow."

The council's 55 members appointed by the president meet twice a year. They're joined by five members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives, plus three members from the Department of Education, Interior and State. Presidential appointments are five-year terms.