1/ Those bashing #1619project aren't quibbling over details, about which solid historians disagree. They are attacking the very notion (inarguable among reasonable people) of white supremacy's centrality to the nation's founding & Black folks' role in making democracy more real..
2/ They prefer the "George Washington and the Cherry Tree" history of their youth. Not because it is true, but because it is the uncritical and blind patriotism they have always embraced, and which has made progress so difficult...
3/ They are not the equivalent of historians arguing over one or another piece in the series, and disagreeing over the connection between capitalism and enslavement, or the relative role of each, or whatever disputes have arisen among the historian class...
4/ Those debates are good and healthy. But these folks, Trump now included, are merely bad magicians, seeking to maintain the illusion even after most have figured out the truth. Trying to put the rabbit back in the hat, even as we saw where he came from...
5/ They want nationalism in place of historiography. They want blind allegiance and national idolatry. They aren't against political correctness, but historical correctness. Their statues are metaphorical worship altars, not texts. They don't read and have no desire to learn.
