What I Never Knew About Racism in America’s History
Looking back on twelve weeks with The 1619 Project
I looked forward to finishing my coursework with The 1619 Project. I savored the sense of satisfaction with the completion of a goal and a noteworthy one at that. I also hoped to free up some additional reading and writing time. However, the end of this coursework became the beginning of what I will call real work. What do we do with this knowledge?
Some Background
What is The 1619 Project? The headnote from the online series reads:
The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
My experience with the project punctuated my feeling that my early public school education had been inadequate. Nikita Stewart in “Why Can’t We Teach This?” wrote that we are “committing educational…
