The 1619 Project and my Thoughts!

I really shouldn't be writing this blog entry right now becaused I am meeting a friend for lunch and I have to walk the dog first which takes an hour, but my mind is very active, like my dog and this blog is a way for me to take that active dog for a walk. For my friend's birthday, I am taking her a copy of the 11619 Project because like me, she has been a lifelong feminist and believer in social justice and equality. She worked far harder at it than I did though. Nonetheless, I am hoping we can read our copies over the long winter and talk about our reactions and responses.

To help with that, I am also giving her the latest Vanity Fair magazine issue which has an interview with Nikole Hannah-Jones and also a short half page review of the book fro The Week Magazine. Having read numerous reviews including the first publication of the 1619 Project when it was the cover story of the Sunday New York Times, I have built up quite a lot of anticipation for the reading which is why I am bloghging about it before I actually read it. The 1619 Project kicked up a political firestorm which eventuated in Repulbican legistlation AGAINST teaching what is known as Critical Race Theory in the schools! Free Speech? I saw a cartoon where there was a mask and a protest against mandates next to a cartoon of a woman's reproductive system. The point being hypocricy - Don't tell me I have to wear a mask - it is my body and I am free to make those decisions regarding my health - while at the same time Republican efforts have been building an succeeding in legislation against abortion all over the south beginning with Texas. Same thing with 2nd amendment 'right to bear arms' but forget Free speech.

Anyhow I don't have time and never intended to go off on a political tangent here. I wanted to address one criticism from The Week book review: "Chrtis Surewalt, in The Displatch.com observes that N.Hannah-Jones never addresses criticism of her claim that slavery is at the foudation on which our country was built. I think if that idea was taken too narrowly and too specificallt, the idea is ruined. Our country was built on an aggregate compound like Roman concrete on with many ingredients. Each founding colony had its own purpose whether escape from religious persecescape, or the search for precious metals like silver and gold, or the fountain of youth. Every ship that came here was filled with a variety of purposes that became the foundation and the bigger ingredients, the colonization of the new world by Britain and France and Spain were even larger shares of the aggregate. Certainly the economy of this nation was increasingly built not only on the labor of enslaved people but on the backs of hordes of starving and displaced immigrants as described by Emma Lazarus in her famous poem.

A friend of mine wrote a wonderful book about the ruins one stumbles upon in the pine barrens when hiking. She did a lot of research into the attemps to establish various industries, iron, and glass, and to build housing developments. When she published her book, many old time archaeology and botony and pine barrens buffs were irritated and criticised her effort. At the heart of the matter was jealousy. Lots of people want to write a book and do not. It is a lot of hard work driven by a current of passion to tell a story. I have written three books, independently published. The effort to write them was enough for me, I couldn't then fight the battle to get them published. My friend who wrote the Pine Barrens book went on to write three books on Pine Barrens history - all of them immensely popular.

Every story is part of a bigger story. The story that hasn't been told about African Americans is now becoming more widely dissseminated and the shame and guilt that breeds resentment is rising in the eotions of bigots who do not want that story told. There are many who harbor tribal notions of the superiority of their particular race or nation of origin. They have their notions built on the stereotypes of popular culture that have also always existed in regard to gender. I remember growing up with the scorn and mockery that was everywhere in regard to women drivers UNTIL it came out that women drivers got better rates because we were LESS likely to have accidents than men. Then those same sexists raised a howl to get "equality" in insurance rates with women. Unenlightened self interest is at the heart of a lot of criticism of The 1619 Project. My suggestion is read it and learn, take what is valuable and what you never knew and build on it. What you don't agree with, you can leave behind.

Gotta get going so I can give the book to my old dear friend. We have been friends for almost 65 years, since we were both in junior high school. We have turned 76, me in November and her ih December.

Happy Trails - Jo Ann wrightj45@yahoo.com (don't bother with the comments section of the blog - it just gets filled with robot crap. If you want to talk - e-mail me!)