Bret Stephens / 1619

No doubt about the first sentence.
As for the second, I'll use a cliche I generally avoid: Two wrongs don't make a right.

 

Bret is not only the whitest guy, but the most deeply put-upon.

It's ReALLy WeIRd how people like Bret come out of these cloistered academic safe spaces with rigid thinking.

 

Bret Stephens’s Racist “Olfactory Element”

This guy was a Morning Joe regular for a good while

 

OK. So let's teach that the South fought tenaciously to maintain the institution of slavery. When the South lost that war they fought tenaciously to create a society, that through segregation, deprived a substantial portion of the population the right to vote and systematically create an underclass for a century. These injustices were undone only through federal intervention in the 60's.

Do you think that version is getting into Southern school curriculums any time soon? And I think history ignoring the oppression of blacks is more dangerous than exaggerating the role of blacks in American history.

 

I can't stand Stephens, but I thought his essay was fair and has raised fair questions ... about the opening essay to 1619. Or to be more specific, about a single sentence in the opening essay.

But that does not encompass the entire 1619 project, which its critics are quick to tap dance right past.

To pretend they are all one and the same is an intentionally dishonest slight-of-hand.

 

I really think we're on the same side.

There should be a way - in Southern public schools at least (via mandates tied to federal funding, accreditation, what have you) - to get that version taught.

I'm not trying to discount at all the oppression of minorities and believe that schools should be required to teach it. (I would bet schools spend more time on the Nazi's treatment of Jews than the U.S.'s genocide of Natives.) I just don't think things are helped much by exaggerating and misstating the roles of blacks in history.

 

A fair summary - including the Stephens Op - here.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...537092-00df-11eb-897d-3a6201d6643f_story.html

 

No disrespect, but if you haven't read it, how do you know the 1619 Project does so?

 

She certainly let her anger get the best of her.

Never tweet.

 

It doesn't matter if you're a black, white, brown, man, or woman; if you fucked up, you fucked up. No amount of SJWism will save you from that.

The NYT Public Editor would've been perfect for this situation. Alas...

I'm more suspicious of Callimachi after reading Ben Smith's piece. If she's had a history of shady reporting practices, then it's more than likely trickled into her current work.

 

International conflict reporting is incredibly difficult - and often impossible to fact-check.

That said, I think the "nonfiction" podcast form - as Serialized radio drama - encourages theatricality.