tenth. let's look into this. msnbc correspondent trymaine lee traced the history and impact of the racial wealth gap as part of a major initiative from "the new york times" magazine called "the 1619 project. it aims to reframe our country's history through the idea that 16/19 was the year of america's true founding and it examines the consequences of slavery and contributions of black americans and puts them at the center of the story that we tell ourselves about who we are. trymaine lee joins us now. to consider the remarkable economic advantages that the united states saw right after independence, people are always fascinated by how did this breakway country end up doing better than its parent country, the united kingdom? >> slavery. >> free labor which became the remarkably cheap labor after slavery. >> when you consider all the wealth generated by enslaved people and cotton and sugarcane,