The New York Post had a piece Saturday suggesting that the riots that exploded after the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis be called the “1619 riots.” Charles Kesler writes:
The justified indignation over George Floyd’s killing has led to calls for policing reform and for the country to do better at fulfilling its principles. But the reaction hasn’t stopped with those worthy and noble objectives. It has surged well beyond to an attack on the principles themselves, which allegedly give rise to “systemic racism.”
…
So who else can they get at? Well, an easier target is one particular set of privileged, white males: the American Founders. The system at the root of systemic racism, the radicals argue, is the American one, beginning with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. America, they claim, was born a racist nation and remains one today.
…
The most prominent proponent of the argument is The New York Times’s 1619 Project, named after the year the first black slaves arrived in America. Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Times reporter who leads the project, has argued that “the year 1619 is as important to the American story as 1776.”
Her editor, Jake Silverstein, has backed her to the hilt. Black slavery “is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin,” he asserted, “but it is more than that: It is the country’s very origin. Out of slavery — and the anti-black racism it required — grew nearly everything that has truly made America exceptional,” especially “its astonishing penchant for violence” and “its endemic racial fears and hatreds.”
In other words, 1619 is not “as important” as 1776; it is far more important and more revealing.
To which Nikole Hannah-Jones replied she’d be honored if she had some influence on the naming of the riots:
It would be an honor. Thank you. https://t.co/W4HXKY8kCm
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 20, 2020
Of current violence and disorder, NYPost says 'Call them the 1619 riots. America is burning.' New York Times 1619 Project creator responds: 'It would be an honor. Thank you.' This is what the Times wanted. https://t.co/iJebfjs8Od
— Byron York (@ByronYork) June 20, 2020
Speaks volumes. https://t.co/mUnRGuFQVg
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 21, 2020
You want credit for riots that destroyed thousands of black lives and businesses?
Not….a good look….
— Brian Cates //Flynn & Breitbart's Army! (@drawandstrike) June 20, 2020
The Beyoncé of journalism supports rioting and destruction.
— Tweet Destroyer (@tweetdestroyr) June 20, 2020
Yawn.
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 20, 2020
Seriously? It’s an honor to be associated with the destruction of public property? Of criminal activity?
— Lostpassword (@Lostpassword7) June 20, 2020
Failed Historian wants to take credit for the burnt buildings largely in minority neighborhoods knowing it may be the only thing she does that lasts
— claymkmj (@claytor_k) June 20, 2020
You do realize that isn't a compliment, right?
Your revisionist 1619 Project pile of rubbish is being suggested as the flame being touched to the fuse of this mess across the US and other Western nations. @KrisAnneHall could dance circles around you with real history.— Constitutional Truth (@Truth_CharSines) June 20, 2020
Wait I thought it was white anarchists that did all the damage what happened to that narrative?
— polar bear ???? (@loch_northern) June 20, 2020
Didn’t you blame the riots on outside agitators two weeks ago?
— no pasarán (@notmynypd) June 20, 2020
Don’t worry, Robespierre. They’ll be coming for you, too.
— W. Trevor Manning ن (@Kardea) June 20, 2020
I'm sorry but do these people genuinely think we haven't been examining our nation's legacy of slavery for decades?! Where have they been??
— Isa Ryan (@crunchyconmama) June 20, 2020
That’s not the point. These people don’t give a damn about slavery or racism. They just use that as an emotional weapon to get to their ultimate goal.
— HeatherR (@bamalaker) June 20, 2020
Why is the Left so invested in destroying this country?
— Susanna Alio (@AlioSusanna) June 20, 2020
Unsurprised.
— Eileen Foster (@VermontCard_Ceo) June 21, 2020
Unbelievable
— Dale Robbins (@Vols32488) June 20, 2020
Blue states burning. No leadership. Sad. Vote them out.
— Bernadette Smith (@sfberna) June 20, 2020
Well, then, both the NYT and the UN have formally announced their enmity of the USA. We must be doing something right…
— torpido (@edgecitykid) June 20, 2020
@NewYorkTimesUSA wants all of this violence, disgusting.
— sher (@sher___________) June 20, 2020
Property damaged by riots and looting? Send your bills to th NYT!
— Teige (@FirstCitzen) June 20, 2020
As Sally Kohn pointed out, Hannah-Jones notes that “it’s only property” — maybe just a black-owned small business here or there that was looted and burned down during the 1619 riots, or a pharmacy on which blacks depended to fill their prescriptions.
The 1619 Project: Coming to your school soon if it’s not part of the curriculum already.
Related:
1619 Project architect Nikole Hannah-Jones is ‘not defending’ Joe Biden when she notes the ‘difference between being politically black and being racially black’ https://t.co/T6Gy2H5mln
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 22, 2020
