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Trump Attacks The 1619 Project: U.S. Wasn’t Founded On Slavery And Oppression, It Was Freedom

Trump Attacks The 1619 Project: U.S. Wasn’t Founded On Slavery And Oppression, It Was Freedom

1619 Project
Trump Attacks The 1619 Project: U.S. Wasn’t Founded On Slavery And Oppression, It Was Freedom Photo: President Donald Trump throws a hat to the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally at the Central Wisconsin Airport Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Trump decided it was a good idea to use Constitution Day — Sept. 17 — not to talk about the constitution but instead to bash the New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project, which is credited with reframing the story we’ve been taught about the origin of the U.S. around the arrival 401 years ago of the first African slaves.

During a Constitution Day speech at the National Archives, POTUS launched the first White House Conference on American History in an effort to contradict reality.

A series of essays, the 1619 Project was published to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first slaves arriving by ship at the Virginia colony. It places “the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are,” Hari Sreenivasan wrote for PBS.

Trump derided the 1619 Project, which highlights the legacy of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans, MarketWatch reported.

He used his attack on the project to claim that the U.S. was not built and did not become prosperous due to free slave labor. He called this fact “lies” and declared the U.S. was built on “freedom.”

“For many years now, the radicals have mistaken Americans’ silence for weakness. But they are wrong,” Trump said. “There is no more powerful force than a parent’s love for their children — and patriotic moms and dads are going to demand that their children are no longer fed hateful lies about this country.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has attacked The 1619 Project, which was spearheaded by New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones. The material has been added to several school curriculums across the country. He has called out the project a number of times, making it a campaign talking point.

Trump called the project “toxic propaganda,” and vowed to take measures to promote what he called “patriotic education.” 

The 1619 Project ”has become a common foil for right-wing politicians, calling it ‘ideological poison’ that will ‘dissolve the civic bonds’ of America,” Forbes reported.

Trump railed against what he called the “left-wing indoctrination” in school curriculums, which he said “views every issue through the lens of race” in an effort to impose “tyranny” and “a new segregation.”

Trump has proposed “patriotic education” and declared he will sign an executive order establishing a commission to “promote patriotic education,” which will be called the “1776 Commission,” in contrast to the “1619 Project,” The Washington Post reported.

He also applauded a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop, in his words, a “pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth about our nation’s great history.”

“Our mission is to defend the legacy of America’s founding, the virtue of America’s heroes, and the nobility of the American character,” Trump said, according to a transcript of his speech. “We must clear away the twisted web of lies in our schools and classrooms, and teach our children the magnificent truth about our country. We want our sons and daughters to know that they are the citizens of the most exceptional nation in the history of the world.

“The left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deceptions, falsehoods, and lies,” POTUS continued. “There is no better example than the New York Times’ totally discredited 1619 Project. This project rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom.” 

He even tried pulling out a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to support his belief. “We embrace the vision of Martin Luther King, where children are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” Trump said. 

Many observers say this latest speech by Trump is further evidence that Trump has cast himself as “the defender of White America.”   

“Presenting himself as a warrior against identity politics, the president has increasingly made appeals to the grievances of white supporters a centerpiece of his re-election campaign,” The New York Times reported.   

In short, Trump, it appears, is ignoring the calls of protesters across the country who are pushing for changes in the judicial system, for an end of racial and economic injustice. 

“Just days after returning from Kenosha, Wis., where he staunchly backed law enforcement and did not mention the name of Jacob Blake, the Black man shot seven times in the back by the police, Trump issued an order…to purge the federal government of racial sensitivity training that his White House called ‘divisive, anti-American propaganda,’” The Times reported.

Trump has declared himself “the candidate of white America,” The Times wrote.

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.

And it seems to be working. A recent poll by CBS News found that 66 percent of registered voters believed Trump favored white people, versus 4 percent who said he worked against their interests. By contrast, 20 percent thought he favored Black people and 50 percent said he worked against Black people. Eight-one percent of Black voters said he worked against their interests.

The poll also revealed that Trump led former Vice President Joe Biden, his Democratic challenger, among white voters by 51 percent to 43 percent, but trailed among Black voters with just 9 percent support, compared with 85 percent Black support for Biden.