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UNC Threw Shade on Nikole-Hannah Jones’ ‘1619 Project,’ Denying Her Tenure
Academia holds Black women to an arbitrary standard
Nikole Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, MacArthur fellow, legal scholar, and activist. She published the “1619 Project” in the New York Times in 2019, which provided a candid view of American history, starting with the forced arrival of enslaved Africans to Jamestown. Hannah-Jones’ interactive project demonstrates with clarity that slavery was an essential component of America’s founding. That part right there has conservatives throwing shade. To the opposition, Hannah-Jones gave a clear message:
I see my work as forcing us to confront our hypocrisy, forcing us to confront the truth that we would rather ignore.
As a trailblazer searching for truth, Hannah-Jones embodies the highest principles of journalistic integrity. White people who oppose the project are just feeling salty. They do not want the nation to discuss slavery because it makes them feel uncomfortable. However, as free Black people, our lives and academic pursuits should no longer be limited by the shackles of Whiteness.
Pearl-clutching cannot change American history into something it is not. Watered-down history does a disservice to those reading it. It’s past time for our nation to take a straight shot of truth with no chaser. And Hannah-Jones delivered. Like many Black women, she wants America to move past denials and hypocrisies to move onto something remarkable.
A nation that claims to be a beacon for liberty, justice, and democracy has never lived up to its end of the bargain for Black people, starting with the chattel slavery system. Open attempts to bury history only serve to make a stronger case for why America’s schoolchildren need the “1619 Project” in their lives. And for those who think these topics are too heavy, consider that German schoolchildren learn about the Holocaust. This curriculum is part of Germany’s efforts to ensure nothing that horrific happens again. Information is phased in based on age range. However, over time, children learn about Germany’s darkest days.
Hannah-Jones’s 1619 Project — which includes audio, essays, poems, graphics and visual art pieces — reframes the history…
