Be Careful What You Wish For

Movements like the 1619 project, who pull dates from the aether without any knowledge of history might want to reconsider.

Dates such as 1619 and the territory which would, 169 years later, become The United States.

In 1619 there weren't any black slaves on the mainland outside of St Augustine, which was part of Spain and not any part of the English colonies or Anglo history they keep citing as their causus belli.

OK, let's roll back the clock to 1619.

No black people outside Spain.

Deal!

Oh, that's not what you meant?  Maybe you should brush up on history and get back to us.

You're going to find a couple of years rather insurmountable in your studies with regards to white guilt.

1865 in particular.

But let's roll it back even farther.

The United States don't even exist until 1788.  While The Constitution enshrines the practice of slavery, it also lays the groundwork for its eventual end in Article 5.

Slavery in The USA lasted a "mere" 77 years.  Opposition to slavery and abolitionism began before the ink was dry on the ratification.  A war was fought and the abolitionist side won, slavery was ended and the freedom of the former slaves was paid for in full, in blood.

Nothing more is owed to those people, all of whom are dead.

Anything before 1788 is the responsibility of England or Spain.  They didn't do anything to free the slaves of The Americas...

I am sure Spain will enjoy the same logic that they use to seize legitimate salvage of their wrecks thrown in their faces while the descendants of Spanish slaves claim their grievances.

But it's not something that the USA owes.

If you'd prefer, may I suggest a different name for your project?

The 1896 Project.

You can go after the people who enacted the Jim Crow laws and saw them upheld for almost as long as slavery was legal in the US.

They're called Democrats.