Work in progress 👀
January 18, 2021 was the observance of MLK’s birthday. It was also the day Trump released The 1776 Report. A 45-page psychological warfare document glorifying 18th century racism and colonialism. Legitimizing American exceptionalism and the need for “patriotic education.”
I can’t help but think of intelligence shill Alex Jones’ mantra: “1776 is the answer to 1984.” I’m also reminded of Representative Lauren Boebert, who tweeted, “Today is 1776,” on the morning of the Capitol riot PSYOP.
And, I’m also reminded of Brigadier General Christopher Gadsden, leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement and one of the founders of the Charleston Sons of Liberty, who designed the Dont Tread On Me flag in 1775. To be honest, when I see or hear 1776, I think of Alex Jones, Lauren Boebert, and Gadsden. I think of neoconservatives, white entitlement, QAnon, guns, flags, and crosses. When I see or hear 1776, I think of racism, slavery, and imperialism. I think of dead indigenous people slaughtered by the entitled white men and their black slaves stolen from Africa, the Caribbean, and elsewhere. There is no democracy at home as long as the United States pretends to “build democracy” by decimating innocent people and sovereign countries with their illegal wars and color revolutions.
The table of contents is filled of psychological operations:
“A CONSTITUTION OF PRINCIPLES”
“CHALLENGES TO AMERICA’S PRINCIPLES”
“THE TASK OF NATIONAL RENEWAL”
“TEACHING AMERICANS ABOUT THEIR COUNTRY”
The 1776 Report is a revisionist history of America. It is designed to legitimize the farce known as “American Exceptionalism.”
On page 40, the authors refer to the “distorted histories of those like Howard Zinn or the journalists behind the 1619 Project.” Whether you agree or disagree with the premise of the “1619 Project” (The New York Times), the truth is that the story of America began long before 1776. It began as early as 1619, when the first slaves were brought to Virginia. Remember, there would be no America without slaves. There would be no 1776 without slaves. It begs the question: What does July 4 mean to black and/or indigenous people?
Here are some of the essay titles from the “1619 Project”:
Nearly 250 years had passed before slavery was abolished. And even in 1865, slavery was not entirely abolished, nor were discrimination, racism, segregation, and income inequality. Now, more than 400 years later, slavery (in the colonial sense) no longer exists in America, but racism has been systemically institutionalized and segregation is still prevalent in residential housing through the use of zoning ordinances and other measures. And, it goes without saying, white supremacy is still a dominant ideology in many parts of the country, not only in rural areas, but also in bourgeois suburban and neoliberal urban areas. And, of course, in Wash D.C.. In the Capitol. In every government institution. Slavery wasn’t abolished, it was merely co-opted by the corporatocracy. Ask a black American what the Fourth of July means to them.
“Today, however, Americans are deeply divided about the meaning of their country, its history, and how it should be governed. The division is severe enough...”
The statement is true. The intent is nefarious. All by design. Americans are deeply divided. That is true. But it should not be that way. But that is the way it is, and the system is empowered by our division. The corporatocracy is telling the proles, “Yes, indeed, you are deeply divided.” It is their way of threatening the proles, “We have the answers. Do as we say, not as we do.” The 1776 Report wants us to know that we are deeply divided. But, it begs the rhetorical question: Who/What is dividing us?