Washington (CNN) Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas described slavery as a "necessary evil" in his ongoing effort to prevent US schools from teaching the 1619 Project, an initiative from The New York Times that reframes American history around the date of August 1619, when the first slave ship arrived on America's shores. "We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can't understand our country. Cotton's comments came after he introduced legislation that would prevent federal funds and professional development grants from being given to schools that teach the 1619 Project, which was released last year and has since been developed into educational resources and curricula for use by teachers. Last week, Cotton called the 1619 Project "a racially divisive, revisionist account of history that denies the noble principles of freedom and equality on which our nation was founded. Not a single cent of federal funding should go to indoctrinate young Americans with this left-wing garbage."

Source: CNN July 27, 2020 18:56 UTC