A Critical Discourse Analysis of the 1619 Project Controversy and Its Implications for Social Studies Educators

Abstract

The protests of 2020 cast a national spotlight once again on police brutality and ongoing racial injustice in America. Within this context, many activists and even mainstream commentators have given more attention to a critical analysis of how American history has been taught, especially regarding race relations. The publication of the 1619 Project has touched off a wave of controversy regarding some of its historical claims and its larger interpretation of American history. In this paper, we analyze some of the discourses that have emerged from the post-publication controversy over the 1619 Project and then discuss applications of our inquiry for the preservice teacher classroom. The paper will provide an overview of the background of the topic, important theoretical frameworks, methods, and sources.

Keywords:

• 1619 Project
• social studies methods
• preservice teachers

Notes

1 All of the published interviews can be found under “Interviews with historians” heading of the World Socialist Web Site citation in the References.