In her preface to The1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones writes that “the typical origin story of the United States begins with scrappy colonists inspired by noble ideals declaring independence and launching the American Revolution.” Quoting the editors of Remembering the Revolution: Memory, History, and Nation Making from Independence to the Civil War, she continues: “In this version, the United States is ‘an exceptional, fundamentally just nation, the freest in the history of the world.’” But while  this story has long served as “a powerful source of national cohesion for white Americans,” Hannah Jones points out that it “has never rung true” for Black Americans. She also writes:

The story of Black America cannot be disentangled from the story of America, and our attempts to do so have forced us to tell ourselves a tale full of absences, evasions, and lies, one that fails to satisfactorily explain the society we live in and leaves us unable to become the society we want to be.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

We will give our full consideration to The 1619 Project next class. For now, reflect on Hamilton: The Musical in light of Hannah Jones’ statements.