There are plenty of critics of The New York Times’ “1619 Project,” which you can probably guess just from its mission statement.
The project, according to its website, “aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.”
The project is now entering some public schools as part of the curriculum, something which has again reignited controversy.
However, this isn’t just coming from what liberals might think of as malcontent conservative parents who don’t understand the Very Good Thing that the “1619 Project” is looking to accomplish. Instead, it’s coming from an eminent academic in an interview with the World Socialist Website.
In the popular mind, Gordon Wood’s biggest moment might have been from the bar scene in “Good Will Hunting” where Matt Damon’s eponymous character makes a reference to him. He’s an American historian best known for his work on early American history, in particular the American Revolution.
Yet, in an interview with the World Socialist Web Site published Thursday, Wood says that despite the fact he’s considered one of the foremost historians on the American Revolution — a war which, interviewer Tom Mackaman notes, “the ‘1619 Project’ trains much of its fire on” — he wasn’t consulted about the project.
“Yes, no one ever approached me. None of the leading scholars of the whole period from the Revolution to the Civil War, as far I know, have been consulted,” he said.
Yes, Wood isn’t alone. Another World Socialist Web Site interview with prominent Civil War historian Jim McPherson earlier in the month found McPherson voicing similar concerns regarding The Times’ reticence in contacting top historians in the field when it came to the “1619 Project.”
Both took issue with many of the project’s findings, as well.
Read the rest at: Re-Write History
