Trump Says Department of Education ‘Looking at’ Defunding Schools That Use the NY Times’ 1619 Project
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President Donald Trump on Sunday said the Department of Education was “looking” at taking funding away from schools that used The New York Times’ 1619 Project as a basis for their curriculum.
The ongoing series encourages readers to view America through the prism of slavery, referring to slaves brought to the state of Virginia in 1619. “California has implemented the 1619 Project [in] public schools,” an anonymous user wrote on Twitter. “Soon you wont recognize America.” Quoting the missive, Trump wrote, “Department of Education is looking at this. If so, they will not be funded!”
Department of Education is looking at this. If so, they will not be funded! https://t.co/dHsw6Y6Y3M
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2020
The Pulitzer Center produced a curriculum based on the project that schools may use. Some critics have said it presents history in an inaccurate light, including with a portrayal of the American Revolution as a war fought not for the sake of American independence, but to preserve the institution of slavery.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) in July introduced a measure in the Senate similar to the one described by the president calling on the federal government to deny funding to schools that use the 1619 Project in their curriculum. “The 1619 Project is left-wing propaganda,” Cotton said at the time. “It’s revisionist history at its worst.”
That move came after some schools in Chicago and in Washington, D.C. had already adopted it, though Congress hasn’t acted on Cotton’s legislation since it was introduced.
Trump’s came amid other measures aimed at reducing federal support for racial-training initiatives. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on Friday instructed federal agencies to roll back racial sensitivity training programs for their employees, calling them “un-American propaganda.”
