The Legacy of 1619

For John, BLUF:  It is good to know the good, the bad and the ugly of our history.  And about those who struggled with the problems.  A chance to learn.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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What the New York Times Got Wrong About Slavery in America

From Minding the Campus, by George Avery, 2 October 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

The New York Times recently drew a lot of attention for its “1619 Project” initiative, which has been criticized for misrepresenting the role of the slave trade as the central core to the development of the United States.  The Times “aims 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 project name purportedly refers to the date the first African slaves were brought to the English colonies that later became the United States.  Like much else in the Times’ version of the role of slavery in American history, even the project name is rooted in distortion.  Although the institution of slavery is a stain on national history, the true story is much more complex than the Timesrepresents, and the United States plays a role both as a country that exploited the slave trade as well as a leader in the movement to end the African slave trade, and was not the primary instigator or beneficiary of the brutal trade.

Our history of slavery is nothing to be proud of, but the narrow view of The New York Times distorts the history of our nation and the efforts of free people to correct errors of the past.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff