NYT Seeks to Redefine American History while Attacking Trump
If the New York Times gets its way, American history will no longer be defined by the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War, but by the slave trade and the accomplishments of black Americans.
Through its “1619 Project,” the paper is hoping to “reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.”
The year 1619 marks the beginning of the slave trade in the United States.
“Our Democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written,” claims project leader Nikole Hannah-Jones. “Black Americans have fought to make them true.”
In an interview with PBS’s Hari Sreenivasan, Hannah-Jones describes the goals of the 1619 Project:
“You don’t have very many opportunities to ever celebrate the 400th anniversary of anything, and it seemed to me that this was a great opportunity to really…reframe the way that we have thought about an institution that has impacted almost everything in modern American society, but that we’re taught very little about, that we’re often taught is marginal to the American story,”
The project has already published essays tying slavery to healthcare, capitalism, geography, prisons, music, traffic jams, and sugar.
“We’re really trying to change the way that Americans are thinking that this was just a problem of the past that we’ve resolved and show that it isn’t,” says Hannah-Jones. “If we truly understand that black people are fully American and so the struggle of black people to make our union actually reflect its values is not a negative thing against the country, because we are citizens who are working to make this country better for all Americans. That is something that white Americans…should also be proud of and embrace that story. We cannot deny our past. And if you believe that 1776 matters, if you believe that our Constitution still matters, then you also have to understand that the legacy of slavery still matters and you can’t pick and choose what parts of history we think are important and which ones aren’t.”
Eventually, the Times hopes to bring this point of view into American classrooms.
“We will be sending some of our writers on multi-city tours to talk to students,” said Hannah-Jones. “And we will be sending copies of the magazine to high schools and colleges. Because to us, this project really takes wing when young people are able to read this and understand the way that slavery has shaped their country’s history.”
The Conservative Response
Critics see the 1619 Project as a blatant attack on President Trump – especially in light of a leaked transcript that revealed the paper’s executive director, Dean Baquet, talking about the project as a replacement for the paper’s focus on the Trump-Russia narrative.
In a recent meeting, Baquet spoke to his colleagues about his “vision” to make race the central theme of the paper’s coverage for the last two year’s of President Trump’s term.
“We built our newsroom to cover one story,” he said, referring to the Trump-Russia narrative. “Now, we have to regroup…and shift resources and emphasis to take on a different story.”
That story is race – about how everything in America came from the slave trade and how Trump is a racist.
“Race in the next year…is going to be a huge part of the American story,” continued Baquet. “And I mean, race in terms not only of African Americans and their relationship with Donald Trump, but Latinos and immigration.”
On Sunday, GOP Senator Ted Cruz (TX) accused the Times of completely abandoning journalism.
“There was a time when journalists covered ‘news.’ The NYT has given up on even pretending anymore. Today, they are Pravda, a propaganda outlet by liberals, for liberals,” tweeted Cruz.
“The NY Times 1619 Project should make its slogan ‘All the Propaganda we want to brainwash you with,'” added former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
President Trump took his criticism one step further, describing the Times as “an evil propaganda machine for the Democrat Party.”
Author’s Note: The accomplishments of black Americans are certainly important in the history of this country, but the claim that the US was founded in 1619 and not 1776 is hard to swallow.
The way I see it, the 1619 Project is a massive propaganda effort designed to defeat Trump in the upcoming election.
If the project fails, it will destroy the Times’s reputation for good. If it succeeds, it will teach our next generation that race is the most important thing in our society and in so doing will inflame racial tensions for years to come.
Racists are defined as those who believe that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.
It’s more modernly defined as hatred of another race due to color, ethnicity etc.
I find racism exists on both sides of the issue.
I agree with your refinement and truly believe there is racism on all sides; however, in my opinion the modern definition is “not speaking ‘highly of’ or ‘up for’ blacks.” It has morphed from the true definition to a) hating blacks, b) being a Trumpite, and c) being white before they now call other blacks who do not agree with them as racist.
What part of stupid do the people at the NYT, if it were not for the original visionary people of Europe who came to America there would have never been AMERICA. the slave trade ships picked / purchased the black tribes from there BLACK CHIEFS and brought them to AMERICA. if had not been the white settlers who helped teach the blacks , the blacks would be no place . the blacks need to go back and find there chief that sold them and ask why and then thank the AMERICAN public who have given them education and the best chance to succeed . the blacks need to get over feeling sorry for them selves and help each other RETHER than have the ‘HAVES AND HAVE NOTS BLACKS”
The real story of racism is the disproportionate amount of Black children that are aborted today. And the real story of slavery is the disproportionate amount of Black families on public assistance today. The real Black American story is the great contributions they have made to this country and the many Black success stories in America. But that doesn’t register with the Times who is fully on board with the “Defeat Trump at all cost”.
The NYT is truly an extreme example of the very worst type of RACEISM! Their purpose is exploitation of gullible persons of all races for the benefit of themselves, the moneyed classes, by setting the ethnics groups against each by means of the most outrageous lies.
Southern Democrats of precivil war days were the importers of Black African humans who became slaves. Other slave societies existed in the USA, the Chinese who built the Railroads, American Indians, Spanish in the Southwest, and yes, even White who were share croppers or slaves to the land owners. After the Gettysburg’s Address, no man could be owned and Lincoln sent Federal Troops to watch over the South to enforce this. This also included the promise of 40 acres and a Mule. After Lincoln’s assassination federal troops were slowly withdrawn from the South by President Andrew Johnson and the Democratic Southern Slave or Plantation owners engaged in the Klu Klux Klan to enforce their pre-civil war society rules. No Land or Mule was given to previously owned slaves, and they continued to work the fields or were dealt with by the Democratic Southern land owners or enforcers. Under the Democratic Party, Black Populations were totally discriminated against as they tired to live by the rules. They were burned out, hung, tortured, and hated by the Democrats and prevented from exercising their rights to vote. This went on and was enforced up through the 1960’s until Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Legislation which basically said if you cannot take care of yourself, the Democrats would assure you through welfare that your needs would be taken car of. In his recorded statement after he signed the legislation he was recorded saying, “This will keep the N’s voting Democratic for the next 200 years”. Let’s look at how good this Civil Rights Legislation was. It waa nothing more than a way to modernize slavery. It kept the Black Society in place, in check, in order as the Democrats have always wanted. The legislation allowed welfare to be the 1960’s era to become addicted to welfare to the point all incentive to get ahead was taken away, why work when its free? Why did the Democrats do this, to gain vote and en-script the modern day black society to vote for them out of fear that the Republicans would take it away. Watch modern Day Democrats and segregationist leaders such as Jackson, Waters, Sharpton and other Democrats use this fear and stoke the fires of racism. Today’s Democrats are nothing more than pre civil war Democratic Land owners of the south who continue to enslave those who are told they are downtrodden and the Democrats will take care of them if they only vote for them. Sounds just like post Civil War conditions only with a new spin on it. Look around and ask, when do these Democrats ever come around and promise (lie) you the land of milk and honey?
If you read the Declaration of Independence you will find the words “All men are created equal, and they are endowed by their creator.” In my humble opinion the signers of this document started the end of slavery and the slave trade in the United States of America. Yes the writer and many of the signers owned slaves, and the slave trade is a negative mark on our past. They may not have realized it at the time, but in their effort to rid themselves of British rule and form our own government, they exposed the wrongfulness of slavery. It took nearly 100 years and a civil war to right the wrong, and it still displays some elements of the wrong today. Consider this, it took longer to allow women to vote than it did to eliminate the slave trade after we declared our independence. Our wheels of justice grind along slowly, but in the end right will prevail. Yes slavery and slave trade are bad marks in our history, but the history of the United States of America begins on 4, July 1776, not any other date drummed up or made up by any person or group of persons for any reason to promote their agenda.
If I were a black person I would be frustrated and offended beyond consolation. Frustrated because yet again another entity will seek to capitalize on the suffering of slaves as a deceptive ploy, not for blacks but to gin up resentment in a foul political gesture aimed against Trump. And offended by the NYT’s taking for granted complicity on the part of blacks to lend themselves to such a cheap political gimmick that distorts history as the means to an end. So insulting to so many.
Ho-hum, just more TDS. These Libtards really need to grow up. Trump won, the Hilderbeest lost so suck it up.