WEOC’s Case for The 1619 Project — Submission Standards
A quick summary for writers interested in diving into this hot topic
Hi there. If you haven’t heard the news, we’re starting our first WEOC project. As a collective, we will focus on educating the public about The 1619 Project. This ongoing initiative, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones explores American history starting with 1619. The goal of this project is to realign educational curricula to explore and encompass Black history.
While many of us grew up learning history through a white-washed lens, Nikole Hannah Jones’s 1619 Project encourages America to change course. While “patriotic education” teaches children that the founding fathers were heroes, free from blemish, the 1619 project tells it like it is.
“America holds onto an undemocratic assumption from its founding: that some people deserve more power than others.” (Hannah-Jones, 2019)
When America became a nation, it did so by oppressing Black and Indigenous people. For years, the “land of the free” only referred to the privileges afforded to white landowners. Leaving this out of the classroom paints a rosy picture of America.
The 1619 Project matters because history helps to shape how we understand the world. It is also the lens through which we…
