Thread by @Indira_L

Happening now! @UChicago’s Institute of Politics & @pulitzercenter welcome @nhannahjones speaking about @NYTmag #1619Project, in conversation with @JWhitePubRadio of @WBEZ. Watch live on IOP’s Facebook page

@nhannahjones on reframing US history and what we know. “Ten of 12 founders were enslavers;” one of the reasons they rebelled against Britain was b/c they feared Britain would eliminate slavery, Hannah-Jones said. Slavery shaped how much sugar we eat, where we live, our attitudes

@nhannahjones on legacies of slavery: US=only industrialized rich democracy without universal health care; w/lowest rate of labor unions in industrialized world; w/least generous parental leave. Polling shows if Americans think blacks would benefit from a program, they opposed it

Violence of slavery was “a balm for white supremacy,” @nhannahjones says. Denying the humanity of blacks was as way for whites to deny the immortality of violence vs other humans. “Only way to ‘control’ black folks was thorough terrorism.” Degradation is used to justify the past

“I’m not optimistic” about eliminating racism, @nhannahjones says. Negative stereotypes are so inbred. “I think about how much shame our children grow up with...When you learn this history” you are empowered. No project has fix all that’s wrong but it can empower you #1619Project

@nhannahjones credits @pulitzercenter’s free curriculum on #1619Project with bringing knowledge to 2000 school districts in every state in America. It’s in all @ChiPubSchools, in many @dcpublicschools & Houston is creating a a for-credit class.

“I’m not saying don’t read the Declararion of Independence even though Thomas Jefferson didn’t think it applied to most people. I’m not saying 1776 didn’t matter. I’m just saying 1619 matters just as much” @nhannahjones at @UChicago IOP event tonight sponsored by @pulitzercenter

Why reframe teaching of slavery? To tell truth for the good of the nation. Look at 8th g history text for @dcpublicschools. It says “in 1619, the 1st African Americans arrived” as if they came as tourists. No mention of brutal kidnapping & enslavement #1619Project @pulitzercenter

@RevJJackson waits for @UChicago students to ask Qs @ IOP/@pulitzercenter #1619Project & then comments: “We made [America] possible” w/slave labor. “Evidence of slaveocracy”
remains today: racism in ownership of sports teams, incarceration.
Standing ovation for @nhannahjones