I found this New York Times podcast by chance, as I was walking around in the city, and having just finished a book. I have no idea what it was and who Nikole Hannah-Jones was. First, I like her voice a lot so I kept on listening. Then the content grabbed me.
…Lincoln got right to it. He informed his guests that he had gotten Congress to appropriate funds to ship black people, once freed, to another country.
“Why should they leave this country? This is, perhaps, the first question for proper consideration,” Lincoln told them. “You and we are different races. … Your race suffer very greatly, many of them, by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side.”
Wow … from her voice, I know she’s an African American. So I thought she knew something deep and wide. I kept on walking, and went into Central Park, eventually finish the podcast.
… slavery helped fuel the Revolution … anti-black racism runs in the very DNA of this country …
I would soon learn that this piece was very controversial. A few historians would pen an open letter, citing inaccuracy, etc. The author would claim the fact and objectivity … A book would be produced.
America was founded on the ideal of democracy. Black people fought to make it one. “1619” is a New York Times audio series hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones. nytimes.com/1619podcast.
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