Language and the Cultural Politics of Teaching Slavery: The 1619 (Digital Discourse) Project

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring the Discursive Intersections of Pedagogy, Policy, and Power (Table 39)

Abstract

Dismantling racial inequalities and constructing educational possibilities requires standing up for the language of historical truth. In 2023, Florida made headlines for its revised history curriculum including the ahistorical claim that enslavement taught Black Americans useful skills. In this paper, we investigate the discourses of teaching the history of slavery in the United States, especially in relation to the 1619 Project. Using systemic functional linguistics and data modeling, we examine digital discourse — online journalism, blog posts, and social media posts — composed in response to the three central texts of the 1619 Project:
The New York Times Magazine’s “1619 Project” issue;
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story; and
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water: a picturebook for young readers.

Authors

• Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, University of Michigan

• Jason Godfrey, Harvard University