By: Delilah Alvarado

 

 

 

This year marks 400 years after an event that completely reshaped America and the world.

​

1619 was the year when black slavery became a part of the American life. A news reporter named Nikole Hannah Jones created the 1619 Project, a series of essays commemorating the 400th year of slavery featured in the New York Times Magazine. The project focuses on issues and consequences of slavery that reshaped the American economy, politics and history while also examining all the contributions black slaves made. The project has reached many people and is now being examined in public schoolings. 

 

Texas State University features Diversity Week in the Fall semester. This week is dedicated to spreading awareness on the diversity of students at the university through different panels and showcases. On Oct. 28, a discussion panel over the New York Times’ 1619 Project was held and hosted by the student government. The panel was comprised of faculty and students to discuss thoughts and concerns over slavery, and how we see race in the modern age. Panelists included Dr. Casey D. Nichols, Elijah Miller and Dr. Ronald Angelo Johnson.

 

“That was one of the most worthwhile ventures I have done here at Texas State,” Johnson said. “It was very real - it was very raw at times. What we did as a community in that room – we opened up a safe space for faculty, staff and students to share remnants of 1619; the lived experience that came out of 1619.” 

 

Students and staff of multiple backgrounds shared personal experiences and thoughts on what has come after the years of 1619. Discussions revolved around being black in 2019, and how the world is still affected 400 years after slavery first came to America. Elijah Miller, an international studies student, was able to speak on the panel. 

 

“The 1619 project sheds light on the principles of hypocrisy in which our country was founded on,” Miller said. “We often talk about how our founding fathers sought freedom, justice, and liberty, but none of those things would have been made possible without the fight spearheaded by black Americans. The democratic values we cherish today are the direct result of black blood, sweat, and tears.”

 

The discussion touched on topics not usually discussed and what continue to be of debate in society. Concepts touched on modern slavery, hate speech, what it means to be black navigating academic institutions in 2019 and how people of color are faced with their own history every day. Dwonna Goldstone, a history professor and director of the African American Studies Program at Texas State faces constant reminders of her roots in history. She recently had a conversation with an older man who suggested that tearing down confederate statues meant rewriting history. But as a black historian in 2019, her perspective is different. 

 

“Instead, in 2019, historians like me are asking our students to study, learn, and understand history from the perspective of disparate groups - women, people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, and immigrants, for example," Goldstone said. "The 1619 Project reminds all of us that black history is American history.”

 

Instead of just limiting the 1619 project to a small panel for one day, an exhibit was set up in Alkek library by Arlene Salazar. The exhibit is open till Dec. 20 on the third floor as part of the Common Experience and for the African American studies minor.  

 

“With the beginning of the African American studies minor here at Texas State this semester, we thought it'd be a good tie-in to the same theme, and also since it speaks to the truth of slavery, we thought it’d be a good tie-in for the Common Experience as well,” Salazar said. 

 

The exhibit features the 1619 New York Times Magazine, along with works from Goldstone, Johnson and other academics. It is a locked showcase on the third floor of Alkek, for anyone to come and see. It will be up until the end of December.