Why "The 1619 Project" Is Deeply Biblical.

There is nothing more biblical 

than looking at history 

from the perspective of slaves and oppressed people.

Apparently the latest thing some white Americans are angry about is the suggestion that we might benefit from learning about history from the perspective of the people at the bottom.  This is the theme of the New York Times’ groundbreaking “1619 Project,” which interpreted early American history in terms of slavery and its pervasive, and continuing, historical impact.  Now some white conservatives are trying to pass laws to cancel the teaching of this history, preferring to propagate the whitewashed version we have always been taught, in which slavery was not that significant, not that bad, and totally in the past.

The thing is, there is nothing more biblical than looking at history from the perspective of slaves and oppressed people.  That is what the Bible is: the story of a band of liberated slaves and their descendants.  The entire Bible is written and only accurately understood from the point of view of poor, victimized, marginalized, and defeated people. 

Indeed, for Christians, the Scriptures are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who devoted his earthly life to serving and healing suffering people, and who was unjustly arrested, tried, and executed by the State criminal justice system.  He therefore explicitly identifies with the lynched and the brutalized, the colonized and the exploited.  This is one of the main factors that made the gospel so powerful to people of conquered nations who had direct, daily, and bad experiences of the business end of the Roman Empire. 

So, contrary to what some may say, when we open ourselves to look at history through the eyes and according to the experience of dispossessed and enslaved people, we are actually embracing a reading deeply influenced by Christianity.  We are taking a Christian view of history by appreciating the stories and values of oppressed people with whom Jesus stands in solidarity.

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