The first two episodes of The 1619 Project series are out on Hulu, bringing activist “journalist” Nikole Hannah-Jones’ revisionist history to the screen, with the help of handpicked historians and commentators.
And, so far, the show is proving to be what many of us expected –– more anti-American propaganda, riddled with historical falsehoods, depicting white Americans as racist.
None of this is that surprising and is all very on brand with the original writings of The 1619 Project by Hannah-Jones that were published by The New York Times Magazine back in August of 2019 to “mark the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery.”
The 1619 Project had been roundly debunked by renowned academics after it launched and was criticized by many for casting America in a negative light.
Although, most in the mainstream media and many leftists predictably gushed over the divisive material. Shocker!
The first two episodes, “Democracy” and “Race” premiered Thursday, January 26, kicking off with Hannah-Jones sharing details of her childhood, which included her recalling how ‘deeply embarrassed’ she was over her black, veteran father for flying the American flag outside their humble home in Waterloo, Iowa.
Looking back at my confusion and embarrassment over my father’s patriotism –– I realized that like most young people I thought I understood so much, when in fact I knew so little. The truth is my dad knew exactly what he was doing when he raised that flag, he knew that our contributions to building the richest and most powerful nation in the world were undeniable and that no people had a greater claim to the American flag than we do.
Hannah-Jones, whose biological mother is white, later goes on to again malign white Americans, explaining that a considerable amount of white people only believe in democracy as long as “it doesn’t require sharing power with multiracial citizens.” This, of course, was said as if it were fact without any evidence to back up the absurd and offensive claims.
We’ve made tremendous progress toward realizing our democratic ideals, and yet the ongoing fight over voting and elections show that a significant portion of our country still doesn’t believe in democracy, if democracy requires sharing power with multiracial citizens in our multiracial nation. I think a lot about what it would take for a true democracy to take shape in this country, and I worry about how the nation will respond to what is clearly a democratic crisis.
The series also delves into ‘voter suppression’ –– which turns to fear-mongering and the spreading of falsehoods about newly passed voting laws in states across the country, which were all introduced to bolster election integrity.
Hannah-Jones: And the attack on the democratic process only escalated in the wake of the 2020 election.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): We are witnessing an attempt at the greatest contraction of voting rights since the end of reconstruction and the beginning of Jim Crow.
Hannah-Jones: Since 2021 law makers have passed at least 42 restrictive voting laws in 21 states. And in Georgia one of the most heavily black states in the nation republicans passed the Election Integrity Act that created a long list of voting restrictions. After a pandemic era election saw the use of mail in ballots in record numbers, the law shrunk the number of ballot drop boxes and added ID requirements for absentee voting. Data show black Americans on average wait longer than white voters to cast their ballot and yet the law criminalizes passing out food and water to those standing in line to vote. And finally the law allows anyone to legally challenge the right of their fellow citizens to cast a ballot and created a new hotline to accept anonymous tips to report voter fraud.
There was no mention of the fact that ‘voter suppression’ in the state of Georgia turned out to be myth, not Jim Crow 2.0.
In fact, Georgia had seen record breaking early turnout in the elections after the laws were passed.
But why let facts get in the way of a good narrative?
This six-part docu-series has some pretty big names behind it, including billionaire media mogul, Oprah Winfrey, who served as an executive producer.
The next two episodes are expected to drop this week and the last two, the week after.
We will be watching, so you don’t have to…pray for us!