They came from everywhere. Millions of people, from different countries, with different, and often antagonistic, cultures, histories, and religions, immigrated to America seeking economic opportunity and more freedom. They were a microcosm of the entire world. Somehow, we made it work. America is the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world, and, in the words of Bono, an idea that belongs to everyone.
There were three exceptions to this narrative of success. Native Americans were already here; they paid the price for everyone else. The Chinese suffered significant discrimination, and were even excluded for a time. And Africans, of course, did not come here voluntarily.
For the authors of the 1619 Project, the story of black people in America is the only one that matters. The melding of all of the other wildly disparate groups into a unified entity is of no importance. They were all white, the victims were black, and that is that. America is a hypocritical, racist country run by and for white people. American history is a drama in which black people are the only heroes.
I don’t accept that argument, not because it isn’t true, but because it is only a fragment of the truth. As I said last year, racism shaped this country, but it did not define us. It is a narrative, but it is not the narrative.
Happy Independence Day!