So I’ve just had an opportunity to watch. And my first reaction is absolute revulsion for how much time and credit and air has been given the desperate attempt to discredit this important project. It’s actually astounding and embarrassing.
I cannot believe that so many of us have sat since grade school under an historical account of America that has glossed over the many atrocities that have been a major part of the project of creating this country. And that this project, THIS PROJECT, produces a backlash in 2020.
The need to bring down the majesty of this project so viciously, & the willingness of so many to give a platform to critics whose own work is characterized by glaring omissions in their account of the complex history of this country is so disappointing.
I credit @nhannahjones in being willing to take on these critics; to admit errors - limited though they may be - & to defend this necessary, overwhelmingly accurate & excellent work & the authors who contributed to it. But this is not something she should have had to do.
I take heart from how the #1619Project so evidently has struck a nerve. The backlash has convinced me that the opponents see the threat constituted by this project - they see that “turning the lens” as NHJ describes - is a necessary & dangerously liberating act for Black people.
One note: if you did not hear of Frederick Douglass until you were in college, you need to stop talking about how great your schools were growing up. And you should recognize that the #1619Project is designed to ensure that no other Black child endures this tragic omission.
