1619 Project, Touted as Racial Reckoning, Ignores Democratic Party Racism

One of the most noteworthy efforts to reframe American history in terms of race, the New York Times' 1619 Project, virtually ignores the Democrat Party's role in advancing and sustaining racism in the United States.

In the essay texts, the Democratic Party is named only three times, in passing.

For critics of the 1619 Project, the virtual omission of any discussion of the Democratic Party is not only galling but revealing.

"I think the history of the Democratic Party is even more problematic than anyone suggests, and the time period of its 'criminality' is very long indeed," says historian Jay Cost, author of several books including "Spoiled Rotten: How the Politics of Patronage Corrupted the Once Noble Democratic Party and Now Threatens the American Republic" and a forthcoming biography of James Madison.

The Democratic southern states, such as Georgia, specifically criticized the anti-slavery policies of President Lincoln's Republican Party in their declarations of succession in the Civil War.

A significantly higher percentage of congressional Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act than did congressional Democrats, and segregationists such as George Wallace were major figures in the Democratic Party until the 1970s.

After the right-leaning Media Research Center published an article critical of USA Today's fact check absolving the Democratic Party of its ugly legacy, Facebook started censoring the MRC. One can recognize that the Democratic Party is conscious of its problematic past - for example, many of its organizations have renamed Jefferson-Jackson Day fundraising dinners to avoid any racist taint - and yet still see why it's problematic to whitewash its racist history.

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/08/04/1619_project_touted_as_racial_reckoning_ignores_democratic_party_racism_788351.html