Gray Lady Down

                                  Gray Lady Down
 
To paraphrase a song from yesteryear, ‘The old gray lady ain’t what she used to be.’ For many years, the New York Times (NYT) was affectionately referred to as the “Gray Lady.” The NYT was once highly venerated and admired by journalist, politicians, foreign and domestic readers because of their in-depth and accurate reporting. Like many others, I purchased the NYT during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the JFK assassination and many other national and international events. In my opinion (after all this is an Opinion page) during the past few years, the NYT has become an ardent and unapologetic supporter of all things Liberal and Progressive---from their OP-Ed page to the Front page. 

A few days ago the NYT launched the 1619 Project. The project posits the United States did not start in 1776; rather, in 1619 when the first African slave arrived and this horrible institution of slavery permeated our Founding and many events since. What is the motivation for the NYT to attempt to reinterpret, yea, rewrite, our history with the critical 2020 elections looming ever closer? Again, in my opinion, for the following reasons: 

To serve as the protected public conduit to brand President Trump, and by extension his supporters, as racists. Unlike charges of Russian collusion which has been disproved many times, racism is difficult to objectively prove or disprove. Unless you have been asleep on Gilligan’s Island for too long, the potential impact upon the 2020 elections is obvious. Charges of racism are akin to an arrow shot from a bow---it can never be “unshot”!  

A subset of the above, the 1619 Project is a carefully worded, stealth-like attempt to mute or deny the current economic gains of African-Americans who have historically voted for Democrats. The rough translation, “Forget your pocketbook and never forget your past.”

The 1619 Project is much needed fodder for some of the issue-strapped candidates seeking to unseat President Trump.

The 1619 Project may be the Rosetta Stone American history revisionists have long been attempting to find. Academic research is one thing; indoctrinating generations of students to refute our documented Founding is something else. 

The NYT is constitutionally protected to print what they chose. However, I hate to see the once proud Gray Lady make such a blatant politically- motivated attempt to rewrite history by the 1619 Project.

Glenn  <><