The 1619 Project As Supplemental Education

By Samantha Lewis

Learning Targets

In this lesson, I will address the effects of African-American slavery throughout American society, and discuss an interview with Miss Taylor Welch on her experiences as a black woman. At the end of this lesson students will be able to:

Define the 1619 Project and its purpose
Discuss different opinions on the effectiveness of the 1619 Project
Explain how the 1619 Project can be used as a supplementary form of education

This lesson's interview target is to explore the experience of a black woman in American school systems today.

To what extent are African-American contributions to our nation's history forgotten? Does African slavery still determine society norms today, over 400 years after the first ships arrived on America's soil? New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones (2019) created a long-form journalism project detailing the first-hand accounts of enslaved African Americans and how their inventions and other such contributions have made an incredible and long-lasting effect on American culture and society.

Who has accepted this project?

This project has been accepted by schools nationwide to correct their educational malpractice in teaching American history and inform students on the reasoning behind racism in current events (Hannah-Jones, 2019). This project, however, also brings to light the differences in ideologies on the effectiveness of teaching it in schools, and how historical fact may be different from personal experience and perspective (Serwer, 2019). The reframing of U.S. history for African slavery to be the center point of our national narrative is not one that historians take lightly.

Historical Inquiry

Our students must also be made aware of the myths created to justify slavery and racism, and how to combat them today by debunking them as the myths that they are. Adam Serwer's (2019) article designates its main concept that the 1619 Project is not intended to fully replace traditional U.S. history curricula, but rather act as a supplement that explores American tradition with slavery and black exclusionary practices.

Miss Welch believes that these supplemental lessons on African slavery in the early career of the U.S. is entirely necessary, and on the cusp of being too late. Her response is that black inequality and racism have been at an all-time high that has been building over the past four years. Teachers should have been discussing the devastating toll on the lack of information provided to students and primarily those who are of African descent (T. Welch, personal communication, 2021). It is the responsibility of the school to provide this information to their students as a supplemental resource, especially as one to provide answers on the beginning of the concept of racism.

Effectiveness in School Systems

The focus of the project is to offer untold facts and a newfound objectivity among all Americans by offering non-white perspectives throughout American history. Seth Foreman's (2020) article notes that this project largely ignores the progress made by black and non-black Americans since the Revolutionary and Civil wars, and the steps towards equality that these individuals have taken are made inadequate. The article goes on to state that the project diminishes the effect that smaller-scale forms of racism affect black people today, and that it dismisses the integrity of American historical education and factual evidence (Foreman, 2020).

Miss Welch disagrees with Foreman’s statements, stating that she believes there is adequate instruction in high schools that lend themselves to the integrity of American historical education, but that there could always be more. Students who have the desire to learn more and gather new material should be given the opportunity as their engagement within the concepts introduced will make a difference in their communication and interaction with each other (Welch, personal communication, February 5, 2021).

1619 Project As A Supplement

Students can create a Padlet to explore the voices of African Americans and their contributions to American society. This example provides links to the play Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Youtube videos by the Pulitzer Center, and the cultural differences of African Americans and indigenous peoples.

Miss Welch informed that she has read through this play in her 11th grade English class to discuss racial injustice in a more modern America. Her interpretation of the use of this play is that the themes present in the play such as racial inequality and assimilation away from African culture will coincide with the same subjects discussed in the 1619 Project. With the two being taught together, these two resources will provide students with an opportunity to consider their heritage and personal experiences within.

Conclusion

Based on my interview and research with Miss Taylor Welch, we should be supplementing our traditional U.S. history education with information from the 1619 Project to better inform students about the experiences of African slaves in America and how their efforts towards equality have improved the standard we should continue to hold to ourselves on the representation of black Americans. I believe that the historical inquiry of the 1619 Project will allow students to read through first-hand accounts of African slaves who were brought to the country involuntarily and those of their descendants. The focus of the project is to offer untold facts and newfound objectivity among all Americans by offering non-white perspectives throughout American history. This project is just one out of many that should be implemented into high school systems across the nation that provides access to first- and second-hand accounts of slavery in America and the effects that continue to make a mark on us today. However, if we continue to ignore the faults in our collective past as a country, we cannot make attempts to move forward and amend our cultural relationships with one another.

Mini-Quiz

How many years has it been since African slave ships first arrived on American soil?

A. 300

B. 200

C. 400

D. 500

C. 400

What resources can teachers pair with the 1619 Project?

A. A novel/play

B. A history lesson on African American technological contributions

C. A documentary film on black inventors

D. All of the above

References

Forman, S. (2020). The 1619 Project: Believe Your Lying Eyes. Academic Questions, 33,

299-306. doi: 10.1007/s12129-020-09882-x

Hannah-Jones, N. (2019). The 1619 Project. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html

PBS NewsHour (2019, August 19). The 1619 Project details the legacy of slavery in America [Video]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q14BTdS6BRc&t=158s

Serwer, A. (2019). The Fight Over the 1619 Project Is Not About the Facts. The Atlantic.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/historians-clash-1619-project/604093/

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