Leer en Español
“Slavery never defined the condition of black Americans.” This was one of the first affirmations made by Robert Woodson in this magnificent interview for El American. A veteran of the civil rights movement, lecturer, author and founding director of the Woodson Center and the “1776 Unites” initiative, Woodson has been on a mission to rescue and redeem the rich tradition of blacks in the United States. The left has made this an uphill battle for him and other conservative black Americans.
Recognizing the systemic danger and perverse nature of Marxist Critical Race Theory and The New York Times’ “1619 Project”, Woodson concretely establishes that 1776 is America’s true birth year.
This was the underlying premise of gathering over twenty-five black American scholars in the “1776 Unites” to establish that, as he called it, America’s “birth defect of slavery”, did not condemn blacks to failure. Totally the contrary. “When whites were at their worst,” contends Woodson, “blacks were at their best”. This statement is supported by extensive empirical evidence that demonstrates that black history between 1865 and 1965 enjoyed a rich tradition of achievements, precisely in the face of discrimination.
The false narrative that violence, out-of-wedlock births, the lack of economic development, poor education or disparate levels of income are the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, according to the civil rights movement activist, is a “lie”.
Pointing out the enormous shortcomings of the 1960s social-political agenda that dissipated the black family, Woodson accurately presents statistics that bring into serious question the worthiness of the over $22 trillion spent by failed government policies seeking to uplift blacks in America but achieving the exact opposite.
Woodson’s good fight to tell the real story of black Americans is to be applauded. El American’s interview with this most dynamic leader needs to be viewed by everyone. Now more than ever.
Julio M Shiling, political scientist, writer, director of Patria de Martí and The Cuban American Voice, lecturer and media commentator. A native of Cuba, he currently lives in the United States. Twitter: @JulioMShiling // Julio es politólogo, escritor, director de Patria de Martí y The Cuban American Voice. Conferenciante y comentarista en los medios. Natural de Cuba, vive actualmente en EE UU.