The Corner

Politics & Policy

Historians vs. the ‘1619 Project’

Well, I can’t say I expected it to be the International Committee of the Fourth International that most effectively ripped the New York Times‘s “1619 Project” apart, but here we are. I’d heartily recommend these devastating interviews with Gordon S. Wood, James McPherson, and James Oakes, all of which have been published on that known hotbed of conservative reaction and racial whitewashing, the World Socialist Web Site.

The lead author of the “1619 Project,” Nikole Hannah-Jones, has responded to the criticisms leveled by Wood, McPherson, and co. by saying, effectively, “well, they’re just biased white guys.” But they’re not. They’re authorities in their spheres, and they’re perfectly placed to see that the “1619 Project” is full of essays that begin with their conclusions and work backward. Of Gordon S. Wood, David Hackett Fischer wrote recently in the New York Times:

Gordon S. Wood is more than an American historian. He is almost an American institution. Of all the many teachers and writers of history in this Republic, few are held in such high esteem.

And:

More important than his productivity is the quality of his work, and its broad appeal to readers of the right, left and center — a rare and happy combination.

Of James McPherson’s magisterial Battle Cry Of Freedom, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote:

Arguably among the greatest single-volume histories in all of American historiography, James McPherson’s synthesis of the Civil War is a stunning achievement. Brisk in pace. A big-ass book that reads like a much slimmer one. The first few hundred pages offer a catalogue of evidence, making it clear not just that the white South went to war for the right to own people, but that it warred for the right to expand the right to own people. Read this book. You will immediately be less stupid than some of the most powerful people in the West Wing.

Or, dare I say, than some of the most powerful people at the New York Times.

Most Popular

Law & the Courts

Texas Unleashes an Absurd Kraken

The odds of the Texas election lawsuit prevailing in the Supreme Court might not be less than one in a quadrillion, but they are extremely remote -- and should be. Texas is asking the Supreme Court to invalidate the presidential election in four battleground states won by Joe Biden because, it argues, election ... Read More
Law & the Courts

Texas Unleashes an Absurd Kraken

The odds of the Texas election lawsuit prevailing in the Supreme Court might not be less than one in a quadrillion, but they are extremely remote -- and should be. Texas is asking the Supreme Court to invalidate the presidential election in four battleground states won by Joe Biden because, it argues, election ... Read More
Law & the Courts

Barr’s Critics Should Reconsider

On the menu today: Attorney General William Barr kept the investigation of Hunter Biden secret until after the election, which blows up a lot of the demonization and criticism of him since he stepped into the Department of Justice; the Food and Drug Administration expects to start jabbing Americans with the ... Read More
Law & the Courts

Barr’s Critics Should Reconsider

On the menu today: Attorney General William Barr kept the investigation of Hunter Biden secret until after the election, which blows up a lot of the demonization and criticism of him since he stepped into the Department of Justice; the Food and Drug Administration expects to start jabbing Americans with the ... Read More
Law & the Courts

The Glory of Trump’s Judges

One of President Donald Trump’s foremost achievements has been to erect a formidable obstacle to his own post-election legal challenges. The federal judiciary, now seeded throughout with Trump-nominated judges, has given the back of its hand to pro-Trump election litigation, with Trump judges issuing notably ... Read More
Law & the Courts

The Glory of Trump’s Judges

One of President Donald Trump’s foremost achievements has been to erect a formidable obstacle to his own post-election legal challenges. The federal judiciary, now seeded throughout with Trump-nominated judges, has given the back of its hand to pro-Trump election litigation, with Trump judges issuing notably ... Read More