Trump Minimizes Legacy of Slavery in Appeal to White Voters

The panel, he said, would be tasked with encouraging educators to teach students “about the miracle of American history” and plan for the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The move is a response to The New York Times' “1619 Project”, which highlights the long-term consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans.

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The project began after The New York Times Magazine published a series on the 400th anniversary of slavery in the United States.

Nikole Hannah-Jones won a Pulitzer Prize for her piece in the magazine.

Her essay was titled “The 1619 Project”, because in late August of that year, a ship arrived in American with some 20 to 30 enslaved Africans, marking the first arrival of slaves.

The project evolved from the essay and, with help from the Pulitzer Center, educational materials were developed to enhance the knowledge about slavery, not rewrite history, according to the Times.

Read also: Ex-Trump Adviser to Release Book on Future of a Polarized America

“American parents are not going to accept indoctrination in our schools, cancel culture at work, or the repression of traditional faith, culture and values in the public square,” Trump said. “Not anymore.”

In response to Trump’s remarks, Hannah-Jones said the First Amendment to the Constitution abhors government attempts to censor speech and guarantees a free press.

“The efforts by the president of the United States to use his powers to censor a work of American journalism by dictating what schools can and cannot teach and what American children should and should not learn should be deeply alarming to all Americans who value free speech,” she said. 

(Writer: Aamer Madhani, Deb Riechmann)

Source: https://apnews.com/afdfa0b3454d5a7fdf544158ee1f5e1f