The 1619 Project, Created by Nikole Hannah-Jones (*****)
Why is a history book that outlines the legacy of slavery considered one of the most dangerous books in the U.S.? Republicans have tried to outlaw it in several states, Florida has banned it from its school curricula as have other locales. Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas introduced a bill in U.S. Congress that would have removed federal funding for various educational programs to any university using the book in its curriculum. Other states have introduced or adopted bills that would punish schools and teachers who teach the book as well. Donald Trump was so angered by this book that he created a "1776 Commission" to create a "positive" and "patriotic" version of history. How could one book be so hated by some and considered so dangerous?
The 1619 Project morphed from the Pulitzer-Prize winning project of the New York Times. The main premise of the book is that 1619 is the key year of American history because it is the year African slaves were introduced to the American continent. The creator of the series, Nikole Hannah-Jones curated a collection of essays for The Times that explained how the introduction of slavery transformed the continent forever and created a society where black people have been treated with extreme injustice over time. The Project was updated and compiled in book form containing essays on various topics that show how black slavery has had a profound impact on African-American well-being and has left a tarnished legacy for the U.S. that certainly exists even to this day.
There are 19 essays in The Project written by some of the most prominent and award-winning scholars in the U.S. They address everything from race to democracy to medicine to music. The book is rigorously footnoted and researched and, from my reading, appears to be a 100% accurate depiction of the horrors that have come from the U.S.'s history of slavery as everything is scrupulously documented.
It took me a few weeks to get through this book because the bitter reality of U.S. history is so tragic and the suffering that African Americans have endured is described in such painful detail that it is excruciatingly difficult to read more than one or two essays in a sitting. Republican Trumpists fear this book so much because, after reading The 1619 Project, no rational person with an understanding of history could possibly support the continuing racist agenda that Republicans continue to promote. Many of the "anti-Black Lives" mythology promoted by racist America simply cannot survive the mountains of historical evidence that each of the essayists in The 1619 Project accumulates. The Republicans cannot refute the historical evidence, so their neo-fascist answer is to attempt to eradicate, ban, and eliminate this book. The 1619 Project is dangerous because it so thoroughly discredits racist dogma and so clearly shows how black mistreatment is a dominant feature, not an anomaly, of American society.
I will not go into detail, because I could write an extensive essay, so I will simply say that if you only read one book about the United States to learn about this perplexing nation and understand it, I would recommend The 1619 Project as the essential book to read. Not only shouldn't this book be banned, outlawed, or burned, but instead a copy should be included in every classroom, every book club should read it, and every person in the country should be given a copy to provide them with flashes of blinding insight and a cold dose of reality.
Other books I read in March
Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada (***)
A novella about fertility, masculinity, and marriage in contemporary Japan.
The Distance of the Moon by Italo Calvino (*** 1/2)
Four short stories from Calvino's Cosmicomics collection where scientific formulas and elements of nature like the moon become characters in these whimsical fables.
The Longest Kiss by Leila S. Chudori (***)
Some excellent short stories of Indonesia, but the overall collection is disjointed, consisting of two weirdly contrasting sections--nevertheless, the first section is particularly compelling.
The Circle Game by Margaret Atwood (****)
Atwood is one my favorite writers and this early collection of her poems is filled with small treasures.
Power Politics by Margaret Atwood (****)
Another early collection of poetry by Atwood examines the gender power struggles that are contained in the world of love.
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