Featured – Editorial: ‘The 1619 Project’ is landmark truth telling. By NCR Editorial Staff

“Lynching Memorial Leaves Some Quietly Seething”

“The 1619 Project,” an undertaking of The New York Times that might well go down as a publishing landmark under the heading of bold truth-telling. The title itself requires a reconsideration of American history, of the founding era, of the presumptions that undergird how we think of ourselves as individuals and as a nation. The project bares a history, the beginnings of which is marked by the sale 400 years ago of the first Africans into slavery in the new world, thus 1619. It is a history that has been horribly distorted and purposely hidden and ignored but one that keeps poking through the national façade of tranquility. Read more

The missing pieces of America’s education. By Joe Heim / Wash Post

For this project on how students learn about slavery in American schools, The Washington Post asked noted historians to write an essay on aspects of slavery that are misunderstood, poorly taught or not covered at all in the nation’s classrooms. From the cruel separation of families to the resistance by enslaved people and the widespread enslavement of Native Americans, these contributions address gaps in our common knowledge about what the practice of slavery has meant for America. Read more

Teaching America’s truth. By Joe Heim / Wash Post

For generations, children have been spared the whole, terrible reality about slavery’s place in U.S. history, but some schools are beginning to strip away the deception and evasions. Telling the truth about slavery in American public schools has long been a failing proposition. Many teachers feel ill-prepared, and textbooks rarely do more than skim the surface. There is too much pain to explore. Too much guilt, ignorance, denial. Read more

Teaching Slavery : A Dark Legacy Comes to Light. By Joe Heim / Wash Post

The Washington Post interviewed students across the country in the spring of 2019 to discuss what lessons they are learning about slavery and its role in shaping the United States and what impact slavery has had on American society today. Read more

The ‘1619 Project’ Curriculum Challenges Teachers to Reframe U.S. History. By Madeline Will / Education Week

To bring this groundbreaking project into the classroom, the Pulitzer Center created a curriculum for teachers of all grade levels. The curriculum asks students to examine the history and the legacy of slavery in the United States, as well as our national memory. Read more

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