If you needed further support for the case for reparations for American Descendants of Slavery, it seems that the New York Times’ 1619 Project, released last weekend, is it. Conceived by MacArthur Genius Nikole Hannah-Jones, the project is a bracing look at American history through the lens of all that chattel slavery has wrought. Corporate hierarchy. The design of cities. The prison industrial complex. The sugar in our American diet. And much more.
Hannah-Jones presents the critical contribution made to American democracy in the project’s opening essay. While she recounts myriad examples of black disenfranchisement, white terrorism and the lie that has been our country’s ideals–you know, the one about all men being equal and free to pursue their life liberty and happiness?–she make this point:
The truth is that as much democracy as this nation has today, it has been borne on the backs of black resistance. Our founding fathers may not have actually believed in the ideals they espoused, but black people did. As one scholar, Joe R. Feagin, put it, “Enslaved African-Americans have been among the foremost freedom-fighters this country has produced.” For generations, we have believed in this country with a faith it did not deserve. Black people have seen the worst of America, yet, somehow, we still believe in its best.
Nikole Hannah-Jones
As a country, we’ve never had our moment of Truth and Reconciliation, as the South Africans did. And I’m not sure we’re going to any time soon. However, I do hope as many people as possible take time to read The 1619 Project and really hear–and feel–what’s being said.
Justice demands no less.
Additional link:
- Curriculum resources via The Pulitzer Center
