Students Use 1619 Project to Learn Legacy of Racism, Slavery

 

Several American states have proposed new legislation and policies controlling how the history of race and slavery is taught in public schools. Some single out The New York Times' 1619 Project as misrepresenting U.S. history.

The project argues that 1619 could be considered as the nation's birth year. That was when the first slave ship arrived in colonial Virginia. It says "doing so requires us to place the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a country."

Conservative lawmakers and officials in several American states, however, see that as a problem.

In early June, the Board of Education in the state of Florida voted to ban the teaching of the 1619 Project and "critical race theory." Critical race theory is an idea of how racism¹ and white supremacy² have shaped U.S. society, laws and policies.

The board said the project "distort[s]" historical events. The board added that teachers may not "define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on" ideas from the Declaration of Independence.

The education publication Chalkbeat says lawmakers in Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri and North Dakota have also tried to pass policies preventing the teaching of the 1619 Project.

The teaching of 1619

Nikole Hannah-Jones is the creator of the 1619 Project. She said it is not supposed to replace what schools traditionally teach. But it is supposed to ask people to think about what came from slavery.

Since its release in August 2019, the project has been used in history and social studies classes across the country including Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C.

Rebecca Millner teaches U.S. history at Eastern High School in Washington, D.C., and uses several essays from the project in the class.

"Good luck to not wanting to teach about the legacies³ of slavery and systemic racism and have kids get a good handle on U.S. history," she said. "I don't know how districts are doing that."

Last year, students from her class organized a day-long event based around the 1619 Project. Students planned a museum-like experience to teach the school and community members about the ideas behind the project.

Some students dressed and acted as famous Black activists⁴. Other students read poetry. The school musical group sang old songs first sung by enslaved people.

At one station, students drew or wrote their feelings in answer to sayings from the project. At another, students filled out family trees. One station served as a memorial.

Christian⁵ is a Black student at Eastern High. With the school marching band, he played drumbeats to show how enslaved people used beats to secretly communicate with each other. The presentation, he said, showed how some music has roots in enslaved Black people.

"Everything that we have nowadays, it was formed back when we were in a harder time." The central message of the day was "to not let history go untold⁶ or unseen," Christian said.

Millner said the ideas central to the 1619 Project—that slavery was important to the founding of the country and that African Americans' fight for freedom is good for the whole country—are not new. But she said the way the information is presented in the project reaches students better than books and other resources.

The 1619 Project connects those messages "in such a powerful way for students," she said.

Rebecca Coven is an English and social studies teacher at Sullivan High School in Chicago. The school has mostly Black students. She said the project shows students the importance of perspective when it comes to writing history. The 1619 Project is almost entirely⁷ written by Black writers.

It gets "us to think about who gets to write history, and how does that story determine what we know about the world," Coven said. Many times, she added, students learn about slavery from a white perspective.

With that in mind, students in Coven's second-year English class wrote their own version, called The 1619 Project: Sullivan Edition.

Instead of writing about the impact of slavery and racism on the entire nation, the class focused on their impact in Chicago.

Students wrote about the root causes of social problems like the wealth gap, inequality in education and America's large prison system. The students' project includes discussions and surveys with students and school officials about racism and other issues. It also contains poetry and drawings.

"With this project I wanted students to understand how slavery created a social hierarchy⁸ that still impacts our institutions today," Coven said.

Raymon is a student in Coven's class. He wrote about the historical reasons why Black Americans are less trusting of the health care system and less likely to get the COVID-19 vaccine⁹.

He said spreading knowledge of these issues could help "create change." It is important to "learn about the unfortunate history instead of trying to paint America as this perfect place," he said.

Adu is another student in Coven's class. She thinks there is a connection between states trying to ban the 1619 Project and George Floyd's murder and the nationwide protests for racial equality.

"They don't want us to know the effects of slavery are still going on," Adu said. "When George Floyd was killed, that kind of showed that even though slavery is over this is the remnant of it."

Words in This Story

distort — v. to change (something) so that it is no longer true or accurate

legacy¹⁰ — n. something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past

district— n. an area established by a government for official government business

perspective — n. a way of thinking about and understanding something (such as a particular issue or life in general); the angle or direction that a person uses to look at an object

determine — v. to officially decide (something) especially because of evidence or facts, or to establish (something) exactly or with authority

survey — n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something

hierarchy — n. a system in which people or things are placed in a series of levels with different importance or status

institution — n. an established organization

remnant — n. the part of something that is left when the other parts are gone

1 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

2 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

3 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

9 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

10 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。