The stated aim of the 1619 Project is to recenter American historical discourse around “the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans,” and in some senses it has been a victim of its own success. Launched in a 2019 issue of the New York Times Magazine that coincided with the 400th anniversary of chattel slavery in the colonies that became the United States, the project was received with enthusiasm in many quarters and predictable outrage in others. As right-wingers raged against the willfully misunderstood concept of critical race theory, a curriculum released alongside the 1619 Project became their chief target.