Title: Lawmakers Push to Ban '1619 Project' From Schools
Headings: Lawmakers Push to Ban ‘1619 Project’ From Schools
Lawmakers Push to Ban ‘1619 Project’ From Schools
Social studies groups push back
History education should invite debate, not stifle it
Calls on lawmakers to focus on the pandemic
Sarah Schwartz

Content: It’s the kind of thing teachers love, because it gets students thinking, it gets them debating.” This week, the center announced the launch of a new online network for educators using the materials. It’s important to teach students about the history of “struggle and contestation” in the United States, said Warren, the Atlanta teacher. She uses the 1619 Project curriculum to discuss the transatlantic slave trade and institutional slavery and to teach the importance of primary sources—especially those that shine a light on the experiences of Black people and other people of color. “Not having the capacity to bring this alive in my classroom would involve an erasure,” she said. While the 1619 Project has seen popularity with many teachers, it’s also faced criticism from some historians , who object to the interpretations and conclusions that the essays draw—such as the claim that one of the primary reasons the colonies decided to declare independence was to preserve the institution of slavery. But these critiques shouldn’t preclude teachers from bringing the material into their classrooms, Zimmerman said. Teachers don’t have to—and in fact, shouldn’t—present the 1619 Project’s conclusions as “unalloyed truth,” Zimmerman argues. The goal isn’t just to replace one narrative with another. “Any good social studies teacher is certainly using a variety of things in their classroom, and asking their students to critique what they are reading,” said Wager of NCSS. “