Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and architect of “The 1619 Project,” Nikole Hannah-Jones, sat down for an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” to talk in-depth about the political storm the project has caused.
“The 1619 Project” is a collection of essays re-examining the legacy of slavery in the U.S. in a special issue of The New York Times magazine in 2019. It has since become a best-selling book.
Conservatives have become focused on banishing all things related to critical race theory— or race in general. Hannah-Jones has become a target for their extremist supporters. All she wants to do is tell the truth about the history of African Americans.
“I’m quite concerned about what’s happening in our country because as you know, my project—which is a work of journalism by The New York Times—is banned by name in Georgia, Florida, in Texas,” she told Chuck Todd.
Twenty-nine states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis. These bills have all been championed by the Republicans.
“There are efforts to ban the teaching of this history in Oklahoma and South Dakota, in Tennessee. And when we think about what type of society bans books or bans ideas, that is not a free and tolerant democratic society. That is a society that is veering towards authoritarianism.”
Hannah-Jones believes democracy itself is at risk.
“Unless people who believe in free speech, who believe in our children being intellectually challenged, begin to get organized and speak up, I think we’re going into a dark age of repression and suppression of the truth. And really, these laws are paving the way for the taking of other political rights like voting rights like women’s reproductive rights, like rights for LGBTQ people. So we’re gonna have to decide what kind of country we want to be.”
