They're off by over a century. Slavery in the Americas began in 1493, when Columbus shipped Natives off to Europe as slaves and continued to use us as slaves until 1619, when the first ship carrying Africans arrived.
The problem with sowing division along racial lines, as this article seeks, is that it succeeds. The narrative that hard work did not achieve success is true for many people, of all colours and nationalities! It is not the reserve of black people. I'm sorry to say this but if people just moved on with their lives instead of constantly using their race as some kind of badge for the downtrodden then we would all be better off. Life is tough, as it was for most of our forefathers. The world does not owe you anything. Make the best of it.
They didn't say that's when slavery began. They said that's when the first slaves from Africa arrived.
This is from one of the NYT's tweets:
"American slavery began 400 years ago this month. "
They're not acknowledging the enslavement of Natives at all.
It's true they weren't as clear as they could have or should have been, but the intro to the project as a whole makes it clear that the 1619 start point is associated with the arrival of African slaves and the chattel system that resulted. You're right that Natives were enslaved in the Americas before that, however, the purpsoe of the project is to discuss the role that American slavery has played in nation's development. The enslavement of the Natives was relatively important to early colonization of the Americas, but it didn't really affect the growth or molding of the 13 colonies or the nation that came from them.
What’s a nativeThe enslavement of Natives is the foundation upon which everything else was built.
jus talkin about slavery offends some white ppl smh foh.