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The New York Times has launched a massive mission to heal itself, defeat Trump, and reframe the history of slavery in America, thus "remaking" and "reframing" America's story.
The title, "1619 Project," is the year---and August is the month---in which a ship appeared at the shore of Jamestown, America's first colony, carrying about 20 slaves who were sold to the Americans.
This ambitious NYT effort is also making the 1619 Project material available in curriculum for classrooms.
Be informed.
The New York Times has a triple pointed agenda in this 2-year effort they call, "1619 Project."
The Times says:
"The 1619 Project is a major initiative from the New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country's history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are."
Nikole Hanna Jones, one of the writers of the Times epic history remake, writes,
"Our Democracy's founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true."
The roll-out of the project also includes this offer:
"Looking for ways to use this issue in your classroom? You can find curriculum guides and activities for studies developed by the Pulitzer Center"---with a link.
As I see it, this project is an attempt by the New York Times to heal itself, to defeat President Trump, and rewrite the history of the United States---remake America, advance Barack Obama's goal---and move to the dismantling of America as we know it.
Here's why I see it that way.
The New York Times is trying to heal itself.
Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, said recently that after the Mueller report, the paper has to shift the focus of its coverage from the Trump-Russia affair to the President's alleged racism.
He said in an employee-only meeting (that was leaked to the press), "We built our newsroom to cover one story, and did it truly well. Now we have to regroup, and shift resources and emphasis to take on a different story."
Their main focus, the meeting reveals, was built on the hope that Mueller would "expose" Trump as a traitor, or worse. That failed. Trump wasn't colluding with Russia, and didn't "obstruct" Mueller in his investigation.
Baquet told his troops, "I think we've got to change." The Times has got to "write more deeply about the country, race and other divisions."
He said, "I mean, the vision for coverage for the next two years is what I talked about earlier: How do we cover a guy who makes these kinds of remarks?"
"How do we cover America, that's become so divided by Donald Trump?" he asked his journalists.
There's more. None of this was supposed to be public. But it is. It affirms what most informed people already knew.
This is a two-year self-recovery plan for what was once the most prestigious and respected newspaper in the world.
Sad.
No, America wasn't built on slavery, but on faith that all men are created equal.
Joshua Lawson is a graduate student at Hillsdale College---an institution that I and millions of Americans hold in high respect.
Lawson's response is excellent. I strongly encourage to read his entire paper. It only takes about 5 minutes.
He says, "No, America wasn't built on slavery, but faith that all men are created equal."
"It's there in plain sight," he writes, "Spelled out in its mission statement their goal is to reframe America's history."
Lawson says,
"Slavery was and is an abomination. The ownership of one man over another is an affront to both natural law and our God-given inalienable rights as human beings. It is an evil part of America's past---as well as that of nearly every nation on earth. The fact that slavery has a universal heritage does not absolve American slave owners, but it does provide a necessary historical context."
Here is an overview of his article.
1. America's founding ideals aren't lies.
Nikole Hannah-Jones 7600-word flagship essay of the 1619 Project is wrong. He says, "Forgiving the fact that America is not a Democracy, but a constitutional republic, what ideals does she mean. The founding ideals were the preservation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Hannah-Jones is dead wrong when she accuses that we didn't believe the words they wrote and knew nothing of the "hundreds of thousands of black people in their midst."
Really? Thomas Jefferson's original final draft of the Declaration explicitly referred to black slaves not as property but as men.
2. The founders had to compromise or America wouldn't have existed.
The Founders realized that had to unite the colonies before they addressed and abolished slavery.
3. American statesmen led the movement to end slavery.
Hanna-Jones claims one of the "primary reasons" Americans declared their independence was "to preserve slavery, because they were fearful of growing calls to abolish slave trade in London." Lawson gives the historical facts around our Declaration of Independence.
4. Worldwide abolition lagged behind our Northern States.
Lawson gives a list of slavery around the world and when it was abolished, noting that China abolished slavery in 1910, but practiced it until 1949---and it didn't completely end in Korea until 1930.
5. Lawson also says that judging America by a utopian standard is naive.
The entire framing of the issue by the New York Times is suspect. I repeat. The goal is to heal themselves, destroy the Trump presidency and dismantle America as we have known it.
6. The 1619 Project won't heal the nation, it will sow discord.
The famous Roman orator Cicero held to this useful dictum: When you witness large forces on the move or scandal fills the air, ask yourself one question: Cui bono? To translate, 'Whom does it benefit?"
All Americans should ask themselves that question.
This project is strategically planned to extend until the 2020 election.
The takeaway.
What if all of us, blacks included, put aside the racial rhetoric? What if we put away the effort of some, like the Times, to advance tribal war under the guise of "healing a nation?" It should be dismissed for what it is--another attempt by the far Left to remake America. And defeat Trump. And restore themselves.
What if we followed MLK 's advice to judge one another not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character? Not in 1619, but in 2019?
Whom would that benefit?
Everyone who loves and prays for our country.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful.