Under the present circumstances, the last thing we need is a lengthy defense of the 1619 Project. And yet, that is exactly what the NYT has given us. Culture wars for everyone! Donald Trump and Steve Bannon will be thrilled.
The author, Jake Silverstein, treats us to a lengthy discussion of the history of American history writing and concludes what is happening today isn’t new, which is clearly true. What isn’t true is the implication that the purpose of the 1619 Project was simply to supplement and correct the record by providing information that is outside the standard narrative. The 1619 Project, on its face, wasn’t intended to supplement anything; it is a complete counternarrative of our history, which tells us the following:
- America is an evil empire, conceived in racism and slavery, which has never really improved over time in spite of surface appearances;
- All white people in America since 1619 have benefited in various ways from the oppression of black people, and so are guilty of the original sin;
- Liberal democracy in this country, to the extent it exists, was created by black people, who are the only heroes in the American story; and
- Racism is the central, and only meaningful, theme of our history. Nothing else really matters.
Since the 1619 Project is an identity politics counternarrative, not a supplement, it naturally glosses over or distorts facts that are inconsistent with the story. That is its central flaw–one that it shares with the whitewashed patriotism of the reactionary right to which it is supposed to be an antidote.
I will repeat myself, at the risk of boring the reader: slavery and racism are an essential part of American history, and so must be discussed openly and frankly in schools and elsewhere in the public sphere, but they are not the central narrative, let alone the only one. They shaped us, but they do not define us.