With each passing week, The New York Times has increasingly and unapologetically descended from the predictably liberal newspaper of record to publishing articles that make the Old Gray Lady sound like a vehicle of neo-Marxist resistance.
Ever since they unveiled their infamous 1619 Project in August of 2019 to recognize the 400th anniversary of the arrival of slave ships in America, The NYT’s deconstructionists have engaged in the art of turning history on its head by transforming it from the realm of objectivity (facts) to pure subjectivity (experience). In other words, your own life experience and perception of it is history. Facts don’t matter; only narrative does – and that narrative is personal.
It’s all based on an explosively controversial premise called “critical race theory.”
But the project – widely ridiculed and marginalized upon release – has suddenly gained currency as insurrection continues across the land, unchecked by the progressives elected to rule the cities under siege and undergirded by self-loathing white progressives, anarchists, and nihilists intent on publicly shaming their own heritage and whiteness.
NYT reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones and her acolytes concocted this new history of America, starting in 1619, when the first slave ship arrived. Although the 1619 project has won her a Pulitzer Prize, it has been severely criticized by renowned historians for being replete with errors and for grossly distorting actual history. However, all Ms. Hannah-Jones has done is follow the post-modern methodology of critical race theory.
Critical Theory
On the surface, the 1619 Project seems to lack the academic rigor usually associated with historical research. It ignores almost all work by historians and injects errors that are easily debunked by scholars. There is a method behind her work, but it is not scientific. It is based on critical race theory, for which we need to turn to the so-called Frankfurt school to understand.
This school consisted of a group of intellectuals that escaped Nazi Germany and started working in America. They were trained Marxists, but grew disillusioned with the failure of socialist states to compete with capitalism.
Instead of turning away from their Marxism, they converted it to a cultural variant that kept the narrative of a world consisting of an oppressor class and various oppressed classes. These victim groups were racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities. The shared goal of these grievance studies was to destroy capitalism and Western civilization.
Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory is built on the claim that individualism, logic, science, precision, and punctuality are the tools of white supremacy to oppress blacks. Amazingly, critical race theorists here agree with those white supremacists of the 19th century that defended slavery. The only difference is that the former regards these properties as unfavorable.
Critical race theory rejects the scientific method as “white.”
Thus, it is no accident that Hannah-Jones disregards almost all major mainstream work by historians, who are mostly white.
Lived Experience
If the truth cannot be reached through science, what then is the means of arriving at the truth in critical race theory? They turn to what they call “lived experience,” which does not necessarily mean the actual experiences of a person, as it includes the subjective impression of truth: “their truth.”
Thus, even if all the statistics available disprove the idea of systemic racism targeting blacks, it suffices to feel like it is true. Statistics, after all, are a product of white supremacy.
The Greatest Victim
One final problem remains. What if two people have different lived experiences? Whose personal truth takes precedence? The answer that critical race theory provides is that the arbiter of truth is victimhood. The “lived experience” of the greatest victim is always right.
The same reasoning also applies to other critical theories like modern feminism. The slogan “believe all women” is built on the logic that women are an oppressed group and therefore are always right.
Hannah-Jones feels that America is built on slavery and racism. This is her truth, and as a “victim,” she gets to rewrite history to fit that feeling.
Denigration Ensues
What about other blacks who disagree with this invented history and challenge the subjective assertions with facts, evidence, and reason? Can’t they neutralize her victimhood card?
In critical race theory, a black person who uses reason and evidence is said to have “internalized whiteness.” Opponents are denigrated and mocked. He or she can, therefore, be dismissed as a tool of white supremacy.
Con Science
If this gives the impression the 1619 project is a con, consider the fact that, to a neo-Marxist, there is no universal truth, only power struggle. The Pulitzer Foundation has paid for printing the 1619 project as a curriculum in schools. If nothing is done, a new generation of young people will soon believe that the United States was built solely on slavery and systemic racism.
How long must we wait for this vile perversion to be deposited back in the ash heap of history from whence it came?
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