{"id":167,"date":"2020-07-28T13:06:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T18:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/?p=167"},"modified":"2020-08-02T14:50:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T19:50:11","slug":"the-1619-project-and-the-importance-of-understanding-the-relevance-of-chattel-slavery-to-american-history-and-current-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/2020\/07\/28\/the-1619-project-and-the-importance-of-understanding-the-relevance-of-chattel-slavery-to-american-history-and-current-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1619 Project and the Importance of Understanding the Relevance of Chattel Slavery to American History and Current Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Yes, I realize that title is ridiculously long. It is crucial we\u2014the collective cultural &#8220;we&#8221;\u2014understand the relevance of chattel slavery to where we find ourselves now in America in a cultural sense, because all that we have is built on all that has been, and many Americans from every part of the country, every economic class, and every color have not been taught <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/education\/2019\/08\/28\/historians-slavery-myths\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">relevant facts about our history<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/bLVSN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"broken_link\">alternate link<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"alignright\">Many, maybe most, Americans don&#8217;t understand that slavery was practiced in <em>all<\/em> of the colonies\u2014despite Georgia&#8217;s founding as a slavery-free colony intended to give a second chance to British people convicted of crimes\u2014and the earlier states including those in the Northeast, the ships which carried abducted Africans across the sea were largely made in Northern ports, the textile mills which helped build Northern cities worked with Southern cotton grown with enslaved labor, Wall Street is named for the wall built by enslaved people to keep out British and pirates and was the site of the New York market for buying and selling people, Rhode Island was the country&#8217;s largest hub for trading in newly-enslaved people (followed by New York, New Orleans, and Savannah), Ivy League and land grant colleges all had enslaved people working for them and often building them as well, and the early wealth and industrial advantages of this country which enabled it to become economic and political leader of the world were all due to the prosperity enabled through forced extraction of labor from human beings taken from their homes in Africa by force and their descendants, some of whom were also created by force through rape, and the theft of land, enslavement of abductees, and extermination efforts of Native Americans. Without them, none of this was possible.<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>Our history curricula have neglected and whitewashed critical elements of the context in which events happened, people became notorious or famous, and legislation and court decisions have shaped what was allowed by whom and against whom. This project, by <em>The New York Times Magazine<\/em> in collaboration with the Smithsonian\u2014the lead essay of which, by project director <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/nikolehannahjones.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nikole Hannah-Jones<\/a>, won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary\u2014aims to help correct that by filling in gaps in knowledge and understanding of adults and providing <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/lesson-plan-grouping\/1619-project-curriculum\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">new free curriculum<\/a> for students at all levels, co-developed with the Pulitzer Center, which hosts it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to criticism from historians, <em>The Times<\/em> updated a sentence in Hannah-Jones&#8217; essay to clarify that, while fear that England was headed toward outlawing slavery was a primary factor driving support for the American Revolution among <em>some<\/em> colonists, it was not for <em>all<\/em> colonists. In fact, throughout American history there has been conflict between those <a href=\"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/2020\/07\/26\/on-capitalizing-color-when-talking-about-race\/\">Whites<\/a> who supported slavery, racialized castes, and White supremacy and those who have ardently resisted them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re a subscriber to the <em>Times<\/em>, you can read the essays in the 1619 Project and explore its interactive elements <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/08\/14\/magazine\/1619-america-slavery.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. If not, you can download a PDF file of the full issue of <em>The New York Times Magazine<\/em> issue containing all the essays <a href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/sites\/default\/files\/full_issue_of_the_1619_project.pdf\">from the Pulitzer Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/18Cover-lores-842x1024-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-200\" width=\"75%\" height=\"559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/18Cover-lores-842x1024-1.jpg 842w, https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/18Cover-lores-842x1024-1-493x600.jpg 493w, https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/18Cover-lores-842x1024-1-123x150.jpg 123w, https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/18Cover-lores-842x1024-1-768x934.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px\" \/><figcaption>The August 18th cover of Times Magazine. Cover by Dannielle Bowman.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s no wonder blatantly racist Senator Tom Cotton objects to the project, and especially to the curriculum, along with the Clown Prince of Darkness, the <em>National Review<\/em>, the <em>New York Post<\/em>, <em>Breitbart<\/em>, and <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/identities\/2019\/8\/19\/20812238\/1619-project-slavery-conservatives\" target=\"_blank\">other media outlets<\/a> which support White supremacy (in its stealthier form, without the sheets and hoods). A common objection from that side of things is that the contributions were made primarily by Black writers, who they believe biased on the subject, while they think White writers are somehow impartial, a misperception which comes up again and again in American culture, not just on the subject of race and racism but for all the &#8220;isms&#8221;: sexism, heterocentrism, ableism, and so on, where the privileged majority is seen as impartial while the affected and disempowered are seen as agenda-driven. Educating Americans on the true impact of slavery, particularly on current positions and rhetoric from right-wing politicians and commentators, is against their interest in maintaining support for their policies, campaigns, and arguments. Last Thursday, Cotton introduced legislation to prevent teaching American students the truth about our history, and on Sunday he gave an interview to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"474\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Failing New York Times, in one of the most devastating portrayals of bad journalism in history, got caught by a leaker that they are shifting  from their Phony Russian Collusion Narrative (the Mueller Report &amp; his testimony were a total disaster), to a Racism Witch Hunt&#8230;..<\/p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1163063723952676864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 18, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption>The Clown Prince of Darkness predictably objects to the 1619 Project as a &#8220;Racism Witch Hunt&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2020\/jul\/26\/tom-cotton-slavery-necessary-evil-1619-project-new-york-times\" target=\"_blank\">The Guardian<\/a>, Cotton, whose proposed legislation\u2014misleadingly entitled Saving American History Act of 2020\u2014\u201cwould prohibit the use of federal funds to teach the 1619 Project by K-12 schools or school districts\u201d, according to a statement from the senator\u2019s office, told his hometown newspaper:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"><p class=\"has-background has-light-gray-background-color\">\u201cThe entire premise of the New York Times\u2019 factually, historically flawed 1619 Project \u2026 is that America is at root, a systemically racist country to the core and irredeemable,\u201d Cotton <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arkansasonline.com\/news\/2020\/jul\/26\/bill-by-cotton-targets-curriculum-on-slavery\/\" target=\"_blank\">told the Democrat-Gazette<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"><p class=\"has-background has-light-gray-background-color\">\u201cI reject that root and branch. America is a great and noble country founded on the proposition that all mankind is created equal. We have always struggled to live up to that promise, but no country has ever done more to achieve it.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background has-light-gray-background-color\">He added: \u201cWe have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can\u2019t understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as [Abraham] Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The chief problem with this perspective pushed by Cotton and his allies is that the United States is, in fact, a systematically racist country at its core, but the advocates of teaching that through history and context do so because we believe that it <em>is<\/em> redeemable. <strong>If we believed the country was irredeemable, as Cotton said, there would be little point to putting energy toward making history education more accurate and teaching the public about the broad and deep impacts of racism on the country<\/strong>. The struggle to which Cotton refers, to live up to the promise that we are all created equal, has been driven at all times by Black Americans and their allies among other racialized groups, not by the comfortable White majority, and opposed at all times by the conservatives of that moment. Hannah-Jones responded to Cotton and challenged him to either align himself with or repudiate the characterization of slavery as &#8220;necessary evil&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;He loves his country best who strives to make it best.\u201d \u2014 Robert G. Ingersoll<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/nhannahjones\/status\/1287456866239418368\n<\/div><figcaption>Pulitzer winner Hannah-Jones responds to Cotton&#8217;s characterization of chattel slavery as a &#8220;necessary evil&#8221;.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/nhannahjones\/status\/1287460422359101440?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/nhannahjones\/status\/1287484387005693952?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"474\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/1619Project?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#1619Project<\/a> is a powerful and necessary reckoning of our history. We cannot understand and address the problems of today without speaking truth about how we got here.  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/W6gFOJ1zj6\">https:\/\/t.co\/W6gFOJ1zj6<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KamalaHarris\/status\/1162122797726015489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption>Former presidential candidate Kamala Harris recognizes the need to update Americans&#8217; understanding of the role slavery has played and continues to play in American history and culture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I challenge you, dear reader, to consume as much of the contents of the project as are available to you, to sit with any discomfort and insights you may have regarding the information and implications and reflect on them, to look into any questions you may be left with, and to share the information and any changes to your perspective with your family and friends, especially your children or grandchildren if you have them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, I realize that title is ridiculously long. It is crucial we\u2014the collective cultural &#8220;we&#8221;\u2014understand the relevance of chattel slavery to where we find ourselves now in America in a cultural sense, because all that we have is built on all that has been, and many Americans from every part of the country, every economic &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/2020\/07\/28\/the-1619-project-and-the-importance-of-understanding-the-relevance-of-chattel-slavery-to-american-history-and-current-conditions\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The 1619 Project and the Importance of Understanding the Relevance of Chattel Slavery to American History and Current Conditions<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9,6],"tags":[27,14,3,20,12],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-civil-rights","category-current-events","category-social-justice","tag-race-and-racism","tag-rights","tag-us-culture","tag-us-history","tag-white-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":63,"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278,"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damnwalr.us\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}