The President tackles critical race theory and the 1619 Project on Constitution Day [KT]

Well, I tried to end our little series on the NYT's announcement last year that they would be focusing their news coverage on racism, partly by featuring the 1619 Project. But now the President has brought it up again. Thanks to J.J. Sefton for the next two links:

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the creation of a "1776 Commission" to fight the growth of far-left revisionist history such as the 1619 Project.

"The legacy of 1776 will never be erased," Trump said in a speech at the National Archives building to celebrate Constitution Day.

The "1776 Commission" will promote patriotic education in America's schools and oppose reductionist partisan historical narratives.

The president's speech was the sharpest criticism to date of critical race theory in education and media.

"Whether it is the mob on the street or the cancel culture in the board room, the goal is the same," Trump said. "To silence dissent, to scare you out of speaking the truth and to bully Americans into abandoning their values, their heritage, and their very way of life."

Then there's this:

As an example of Critical Race Theory in practice, Trump cited a recent digital pamphlet from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The document, which has since been changed, "alleged that concepts such as hard work, rational thinking, and the nuclear family and belief in God were not values that unite all Americans, but were instead aspects of whiteness," said the president. . .

"This is offensive and outrageous to Americans of every ethnicity," Trump continued, adding: "It is especially harmful to children of minority backgrounds who should be uplifted, not disparaged. Teaching this horrible doctrine is a form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words."

Compare the above to this from the AP, which I used to think was a news wire service.

President Donald Trump intensified efforts to appeal to his core base of white voters on Thursday by downplaying the historical legacy of slavery in the United States and blasting efforts to address systemic racism as divisive.

The "reporters" suggest that only the President is divisive. There seems to have been no controversy surrounding the 1619 Project. And the Project and related educational materials were not meant to rewrite history, according to the Times. Though it isn't clear from the context of the AP's reporting why they added that bit of information. Heh.

I guess VDH is right: News has been replaced by unnews.

The 1619 Project vs. 1776 Unites

The President's comments came the day after "1776 Unites", a project started by Black Americans concerned about the destructiveness of the 1619 Project, announced the availability of their first three lessons for high school students. The lessons will relate the stories of successful Black Americans and others who overcame obstacles utilizing American principles. The earlier "1776 Unites" essays, available on the same website, are also valuable. For adults, too.

Our Previous Posts triggered by the NYT's August Racism Meeting, in reverse chronological order:

August 1, 2020 Tom Cotton vs. the NYT's 1619 Project. Proposal to end federal funding for educational programs based on "the project". Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones' Twitter feed produced a lot of justification for keeping these materials out of schools. In June, she even endorsed the riots and the toppling of the Founders' statues as a product of the 1619 Project.

Interesting anti-slavery writings by Thomas Jefferson, certainly not taught by the 1619 Project Educational Materials.

I tried to end our series of posts here, before the President's Constitution Day remarks revived it.

May 30, 2020 The New York Times gets what it wants: riots

Also, a reminder that Black Americans began a "1776 Initiative" in September of last year. Now it's "1776 Unites". Essay by Shelby Steele discussed. Things were discouraging for many Black Americans after the assassination of MLK. You may recognize some figures he discusses in this segment from his book.

What has changed in Los Angeles since the riots in 1992?

May 9, 2020 The New York Times, Racism and a Pullet Surprise:

Soon after the New York Times had to admit that the "1619 Project", AKA the "Hate America Project", was historically inaccurate, it won a Pulitzer Prize!

This led to some other historical examinations, including examinations of past Pulitzer Prizes (remember Duranty?) and even of the institution of the Pulitzer Prize itself. Have a good laugh about Joseph Pulitzer.

March 7, 2020: Is this the end of journalism? A member of the NYT Editorial Board, Mara Gay, who pushed the 1619 project has done some other really, really embarrassing things in the media. Has this kind of recklessness affected the quality of media more generally? Was that first remarkable on-air disaster with Brian Williams related to the NYT staff decision in August to always look for an ideological angle, rather than, say, to check your facts?

More critiques of the 1619 Project pour in. Other history which has been ignored lately is described.

January 18, 2020: Media Racism Update, contrasting the efforts of the Democrats to paint themselves as champions of the Constitution with the attacks on the Constitution in the NYT's 1619 Project. More on the 1619 Project's historical errors. Similarity to the communist goal of destroying memory.

Plus an interesting suggestion that it should be illegal to vote for Trump because he is racism personified. Uh-huh.

November 2, 2019: What would Frederick Douglass think? The 1619 Project wasn't much interested in Douglass. Reviews of the 1619 Project.

Also, Race-based lunacy in education NOT based in the 1619 Project. Western medicine is colonialism. Discussion of racial preferences in government.

September 28,2019: September Racism and Slavery Update, with analyses of the emerging, ahistorical 1619 Project. Note: Captain John Smith was once a slave.

Plus an effort to pin a racism charge on a Trump appointee. And media stories start to be re-written to emphasize racism. The 1776 Initiative is launched by a group of prominent Black Americans to counter the divisiveness of the 1619 Project. There are some interesting essays in this series. One participant, Shelby Steele, has been notably present on TV since then, too.

August 31, 2019: Dean Baquet's emergency meeting with his radical staff at the New York Times. This was where the editorial decision to focus on Donald Trump's racism was articulated. Oh. And then there was the 1619 Project.

Music

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Note: Heading was changed to reflect the President's Constitution Day remarks, and the NYT's point of view in the AP report was clarified.

posted by Open Blogger at 11:43 AM

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