>> Tom Cotton is targeting school curriculum that emphasizes slavery in America, and has
threatened to cut school funding for schools who do teach that curriculum. Now the curriculum
he's referring to, is something that's been incredibly controversial for right wingers
for obvious reasons. It is the 1619 project that started last year by the New York Times.
These essays have been published in New York Times Magazine, I highly recommend people
to check it out. There's also a podcast accompanying this program. And so, Cotton argues that the
birth of the United States was actually in 1776 rather than 1619. Because he doesn't
wanna take ownership of this country's history with slavery.
So, he told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette the following. We have to study the history
of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country, because otherwise
we can't understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon
which the union was built built.
But the nation was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its
ultimate extinction. So, that's an incredibly interesting way of reframing this country's
history, and why slavery existed in the first place. But before I give you more details
on this story, Emma, I wanted to give you an opportunity to jump in.
>> It's this facile, conservative perspective, that everything has to have been right in
its current context and nothing can evolve. Because if Cotton was to admit that some of
the founding fathers were racist and wrong, then that might mean there might be some people
in this current historical context who are racist and wrong.
And who would that logically be? The authoritarian serial killer, Tom Cotton. Might have been
him, I don't know. >> Is anyone really shocked that this would
come from a man who published an op ed in the New York Times, calling for federal agents
to crack skulls when it came to the Black Lives Matter protests, right?
He's the one who published that op ed saying that federal agents should absolutely reign
terror on these protesters. And so Black Lives Matter. Well, that kind of messaging, that
kind of protest obviously triggers him. So, I wasn't shocked at all, that he would have
this kind of reaction and say something so incredibly twisted during this interview.
But he was also interviewed with Fox and Friends and this topic came up. So, let's just take
a quick look at how he dealt with that, and we'll discuss.
>> Some say that was insensitive. >> [LAUGHS] Well, that is fake news, Brian,
that's not what I said. What I said is that, many founders believed that only with the
Union and the Constitution, could we put slavery on the path to its ultimate extinction.
It's exactly what Lincoln said. Of course slavery is an evil institution, in all its
forms, at all times, in America's past, or around the world today. But, the fundamental
moral principle of America is right there in the declaration, all men are created equal.
And the history of America is the long and sometimes difficult struggle to live up to
that principle.
That's a history we ought to be proud of, not the historical revisionism of the 1619
project. Which wants to indoctrinate America's kids and teach them to hate America, to believe
that America was founded not on human freedom, but on racism. To think that slavery was not
an aberration, but the true heart of America.
>> Okay. >> I don't know with you, maybe it could be
both. There could be great principles in the constitution. And then also, slaves black
people who are two thirds of human beings, I mean, three fifths, sorry. Come on, it's
complex. It's complex, and that's fine. And also he hates the New York Times and their
liberal indoctrination so much, that he decided to publish his opinion piece in The New York
Times.
>> Right, exactly. And this country's history was brutal. But one thing that's always missing
from these discussions, is the fact that what this country currently does is brutal, not
just here in the United States, but abroad. I mean, we pretend as if, my God, no, no,
that's just a part of our history.
That was the original sin. We've evolved. We're much better than that. I mean, never
mind the fact that we're brutalizing black and brown people out on the streets right
now, for practising their constitutionally protected right. Being out there protesting,
making sure that their voices are heard. We're gonna send federal agents and crack their
skulls, but pretend like we got over our original sin, it's nonsense.
And we're maiming and terrorizing black and brown people in other countries as we speak
right now. Right now, our actions in Libya. What happened when we overthrew Muammar Gaddafi?
What happened? I believe there was a slave trade that followed that, correct? I mean,
it's ridiculous because it's not just about the United States.
If we focus solely on the United States, yes, there are still serious issues, and we do
have to take ownership of this country's history. The revisionists are people like Cotton? Are
people like the conservatives who serve on the Texas School Board, who wanna rewrite
history books, and take out people who have fought aggressively and won incredibly important
battles in this country.
People like Cesar Chavez. I remember years ago, they wanted to take him out of the books,
and replace him with Phyllis Schlafly of all people, right? So, that's the revisionism
that I think we should be focused on, while also simultaneously taking ownership of what
we're currently doing to black and brown people, not only in the United States, but all over
the world.
>> Well, facts over feelings Anna, right? So,
>> He wants us to feel a certain way about America. Which is patriotic, unabashedly emotionally
all in with the spirit of the United States, by disregarding everything that might have
been bad. And just taking the Constitution on only it's good phases, when there was the
three fifths aspect of it, when it came to the American Constitution, that was in the
text.
So those are the facts. If you wanna actually be your traditional conservative self, you
might wanna acknowledge it, that part. >> So just to give you some more information
on what Cotton would like to do, his legislation labels the project, a distortion of American
history. If Cotton's legislation passes, school districts that embrace the curriculum would
no longer qualify for federal professional development funds, money that is intended
to improve teacher quality.
Listen, I'm an Armenian, I know what it's like to live in a country that denies the
Armenian genocide. This country is all about denial. As long as it supports whatever political
agenda, America wants to carry out. And so, they don't wanna ruin their relationship with
Turkey. They're gonna keep denying the Armenian genocide.
Every single presidential candidate in modern history, has run on a platform claiming that
they're going to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. Every single one of them including
Donald Trump, reneged on that promise. This country is all about denial. This doesn't
surprise me, but it's really incumbent upon us, people who are truth tellers, to keep
screaming the truth and making sure that it's heard.