Bill to censor teaching of the 1619 Project in Arkansas schools fails
Bill to censor teaching of the 1619 Project in Arkansas schools fails
February 9, 20214:45 pm
Some AR lawmakers don't like the sentiment behind the 1619 Project, which views slavery as the defining component of American history.
Arkansas lawmakers backed down from censoring the
1619 Project in the state’s public schools Tuesday, but tense disagreements remain at the Capitol over what American history is, how it should be taught and who gets to decide.
The House Education Committee nixed House Bill 1231, sponsored by
Rep. Mark Lowery (R-Maumelle), which would have cut funding to public schools that allowed the teaching of the 1619 Project curriculum. A collection of essays, photos and poems that first appeared in the New York Times in 2019, The 1619 Project considers slavery’s consequences and the contributions of Black Americans as central to our national history and identity. The corresponding 1619 Project curriculum pushes back against the whitewashed history many of us got in school, a version that glosses over or skips altogether the parts about early presidents and signers of the Constitution being slave owners. Its thesis is a rude awakening for anyone who never questioned the infallibility of the Founding Fathers.