EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Scholar counters claims of 1619 Project in new book
Campus Reform recently interviewed author Peter Wood about his new book, 1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project.
Wood said “the 1619 project teaches a kind of self-hatred, self-loathing” attitude toward the United States of America.
In his research and work with writing the book, Wood found many reasons to believe that America is in fact a noble country.
The 1619 Project has been a topic of discussion on multiple college campuses. Developed by The New York Times, the project “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”
The project has been heavily criticized by historians and scholars across the country. Among the project’s critics is author and president of the National Association of Scholars Peter Wood wrote a response to the project in his book titled, 1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project.
Wood said his book stresses the fact that the country began in 1776, not 1619.
“I was looking for a succinct way to say, that’s not really where we began. It may be historically interesting...but it’s not our origin story,” Wood said. “The United States, of course, came into existence in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence.”
Wood said there are many dangers that come with teaching an entire generation of Americans this history.
“The 1619 project teaches a kind of self-hatred, self-loathing,” he said. “It looks back to our history as a tissue of oppression, of racism from the get-go and from the denial of rights and opportunities to people of African American, or African heritage.”
He also said that “it preaches to everybody else, that you’re responsible for all the terrible things that happen to the African American community. That is a really impossible way to view our country. It leaves out all of our important achievements, or it takes those achievements and turns them upside down and makes them into atrocities.”
Campus Reform asked Wood what he thought the overall goals of the 1619 Project were.
He said there were multiple goals.
“One of the goals was to drive President Trump out of office. We know that during the summer of 2019, the editors of The New York Times were deeply disappointed with the outcome of the Mueller investigation,” Wood said. “They sat around and discussed what else they could do to undermine the Trump presidency, they came up with this idea.”
Wood also said a “desire to tear down this country” was one of the other goals of the project. Wood said there is plenty of evidence that points to the greatness of this country.
[RELATED: U Oregon’s 1619 Project common read ‘aims to reframe’ US history]
“We became the most prosperous nation in the history of the world. That was by our industry, by our individualism, by our ability to invent and to turn those inventions into prosperity for all. We are a nation that achieved a higher level of equality among people who were originally unequal,” he said.
“We welcome into this country many millions of immigrants, simulating them to a vision of what it means to be a free and equal people,” Wood said. “So that’s the history that needs to be told. I fear it’s history that is not being told well, given the readiness by which our schools and colleges have adopted this ‘hate America first’ agenda.”
Wood’s book will be released on Nov. 17. It is available on Amazon and other retail stores.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @opheliejacobson
