University of Louisville leaders call McConnell s comments on The 1619 Project troubling
Leaders said the UofL grad s comments were troubling for American descendants of slaves, our allies and those who support us. Author: Taylor Weiter Updated: 6:49 PM EDT May 6, 2021
LOUISVILLE, Ky. In a campus-wide email Thursday, University of Louisville leadership called alumnus Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell s comments on The 1619 Project from The New York Times Magazine troubling for American descendants of slaves, our allies and those who support us.
During a press conference at UofL Monday, McConnell said he would not consider 1619 the year Africans were first brought to America as slaves an important moment in the country s history.
Mitch McConnell slammed by his alma mater over his remarks about the 1619 Project Mitch McConnell/Shutterstock
SalonMay 07, 2021
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell received a sharp rebuke from his alma mater on Thursday when a University of Louisville administrator clapped back at his recent comments about the legacy of slavery and its effects on American history.
McConnell s remarks came Monday during a speaking event at the university, where he was asked to opine on the New York Times 1619 Project, according to
WDRB. The project, which
seeks 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, puts particular emphasis on the year 1619 which was the first year that African slaves were brought to America.
Credit Ryland Barton / WFPL
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said treating the start of American slavery as a significant moment in the country’s history is an “exotic notion.” Leaders at the University of Louisville, where he made that comment on Monday, say he’s wrong.
V. Faye Jones, senior associate vice president for diversity and equity, pushed back on his comments in a campus-wide email Thursday. She said university leaders, including President Neeli Bendapudi, joined her in rejecting “the idea that the year 1619 is not a critical moment in the history of this country.“
Bendapudi was on stage with McConnell when he criticized the New York Times’ 1619 Project and said its teachings should not be core to American civic education.