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Today, on #MLKDay 
, The Trump administration released this 1776 Report as a retort to the NYT's 1619 project which centered the American story on African-Americans and their contributions to American culture. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Presidents-Advisory-1776-Commission-Final-Report.pdf
, The Trump administration released this 1776 Report as a retort to the NYT's 1619 project which centered the American story on African-Americans and their contributions to American culture. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Presidents-Advisory-1776-Commission-Final-Report.pdf
According to the 1776 project, Americans were largely cool with extending civil rights to black people. "The Civil Rights Movement culminated in the 1960s... It presented itself, and was understood by the American people, as consistent with the principles of the founding."
FACT CHECK: A 1963 Gallup poll found 78% of white people would leave their neighborhood if many black families moved in. 60% also had an unfavorable view of MLK's march on Washington, stating that they felt it would cause violence and would not accomplish anything.
Also, important to note MLK was killed because of his civil rights work. So was Medgar Evars. And Jimmy Lee Jackson. And Rev. Bruce Klunder. And Rev. James Reeb. And many, many more. America was overwhelmingly not cool with the movement.
The 1776 Project claims that equity programs like Affirmative Action go against the aims of the Civil Rights Movement.
It states, ""The justification for reversing the
promise of color-blind civil rights was that past
discrimination requires present effort, or affirmative
action in the form of preferential treatment, to
overcome long-accrued inequalities."
promise of color-blind civil rights was that past
discrimination requires present effort, or affirmative
action in the form of preferential treatment, to
overcome long-accrued inequalities."
FACT CHECK: MLK Was not "color blind." He publicly supported social reforms for African Americans similar to the G.I. Bill & called for reparations that were bold, but “less expensive than any computation based on two centuries of unpaid wages and accumulated interest."
Also this part about slavery: "Many Americans labor under the illusion that slavery
was somehow a uniquely American evil... But the unfortunate fact is that the institution of slavery has been more the rule than the exception throughout human history."
was somehow a uniquely American evil... But the unfortunate fact is that the institution of slavery has been more the rule than the exception throughout human history."
FACT CHECK: Slavery was not unique to the USA, but the combination of slavery + white supremacy + nation building was. And the 13th amendment *still* allows slavery in this nation "as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
