The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

by Nikole Hannah-Jones

It was the civil rights movement that led to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which upended the racist immigration quota system intended to keep this country white.

The truth is that as much democracy as this nation has today, it has been borne on the backs of Black resistance and visions for equality.

Black equaled “slave,” and slavery in America required turning human beings into property by stripping them of every element that made them individuals. This process was called seasoning, in which people stolen from western and central Africa were forced, often through torture, to

stop speaking their native tongues and practicing their native religions.

shotgun

Southampton and nearby counties, killing as many as two hundred to ensure that Black rebels would not dare to attempt