The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

Abstract

In August of 1619, white Virginians purchased enslaved Africans, and the institution of American chattel slavery officially began in what would become the United States of America. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones, chronicles the importance of 1619 and the lasting legacy of slavery. The details of slavery and post-slavery race relations have not been accurately discussed as part of present-day race relations. Wanting to commemorate this moment in history, the 1619 Project came to be, at first, just a special issue in the New York Times in 2019, then in 2020 expanded into a book. The 1619 Project is authored by many scholars who specialize in civil rights and race-related issues, including activist scholars like Bryan Stevenson, Ibram X. Kendi, and many others. Much of American history starts with the Revolutionary War in 1776. This book emphasizes that Black Americans and the legacy of slavery are often left out of the conversation, leaving a gap in knowledge for studying race critically.To fill in the gaps of American history, Hannah-Jones and the many contributors to this project take us through essential systems in the United States, with the legacy of slavery at the center and how it is the foundation of many American institutions today. Each chapter directly connects America's past to the present. The text focuses on a different aspect of an institution and/or social problem in the United States. For example, Leslie Alexander and Michelle Alexander introduce the chapter titled “Fear” by describing the horrific murder of George Floyd, a name that rings loud for many Americans. They discuss recent killings of Black people by white police and vigilantes, including the case of twenty-five-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased down and killed by three white men who had suspected him of robbery. The chapter connects these brutal murders to points in history that allowed this type of systemic violence on Black bodies to occur.Other chapters highlight racism in healthcare systems, the wide racial wealth gap, politics, and even music. Each chapter is complemented by poetic interludes that are related to the text, giving the reader a break to connect the critical ideas with beautiful poetry, which includes works by Claudia Rankine, Barry Jenkins, and Jesmyn Ward, to name a few.The systemic violence towards Black people, the racial wealth gap, racism in the healthcare industry, and inequities in the legal system, have often left me with the question “How did we get here?” Students and emerging scholars may have this same question. The 1619 Project begins to offer some answers. By directly connecting many of the issues Black Americans face today and thoroughly explaining the origins of anti-Black racism in history, its authors begin to make very clear how we got here. If we are ever to get to the point of racial equity, understanding systemic racism is the only way to do so. But America must understand and acknowledge this country's past if we ever want to fix our present and future.