New York Times Distorts 1776 Commission Report
The 1776 Commission does not defend slavery
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Today saw the release of a report of a presidential commission formed in the last days of the Trump administration. That report came from a body known as the 1776 Commission, a group established by President Donald Trump to essentially rebut the controversial and deeply influential 1619 Project — a project of The New York Times.
According to The New York Times, the Trump-appointed 1776 Commission “defends America’s founding on the basis of slavery.” It’s a characterization contained in the paper’s article headline as well as in the first paragraph of the story itself. That paragraph, which opens the article written by Times White House correspondent Michael Crowley, reads:
The Trump White House on Monday released the report of the presidential “1776 Commission,” a sweeping attack on liberal thought and activism that calls for a “patriotic education,” defends America’s founding on the basis of slavery and likens progressivism to fascism.
Please note the dual implications of this wording.
First, it suggests that the 1776 Commission defended not only the American founding but slavery itself! In other words, the 1776 Commission (according to Mr. Crowley’s suggestion) thinks that a nation being founded “on the basis of slavery” is a good thing.
The other implication is that the American founding did in fact have slavery as its basis — that the United States of America was established by Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, and all those guys for the purpose of protecting and perpetuating slavery.
And yet this characterization is precisely what the 1776 Commission is disputing.
In fact, Crowley’s headline and opening paragraph essentially accuse the 1776 Commission of affirming two things (support for slavery and the idea that the nation was founded on the “basis of slavery”) when, IN POINT OF FACT, the 1776 Commission is saying PRECISELY THE OPPOSITE!
If you read further in Crowley’s piece, he starts to mention more details and provide a better picture, but by then, the damage has been done. Newspapers know that most people read only the headlines, and those who…
