Four hundred years ago, the first African slave was dragged against their will to the land that would become the United States. To mark that solemn occasion and reflect on the impact of slavery throughout U.S. history, the New York Times Magazine launched the 1619 Project last weekend, immediately garnering widespread praise as it seeks to reframe conversations about America. (It also ignited a firestorm among people who don’t like to be reminded about the country’s racist past, present, and probable future.)
The project, which combines essays with interactive content, is an attempt to address “the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story of we tell ourselves about who we are.” The stories cover everything from electoral politics to the prison-industrial complex to the role of sugar in our diet, tracing the throughline of slavery and racism from the early days of the U.S. through the Jim Crow era to the racial…
