Critical race theory backer Nikole Hannah-Jones uses 1619 Project to charge 'exorbitant' speaking fees: critic
In one case, Oregon Department of Education paid $50,000 to host Hannah-Jones for 2 events
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As Nikole Hannah-Jones' new book is topping some best-seller lists, she has used the 1619 Project as a platform to charge what a critic calls "exorbitant" speaking fees to schools across the country.
Her book, "The 1619 Project," is based on The New York Times 1619 Project, which has been criticized for allegedly telling inaccurate parts of history, such as the claim that "one of the primary reasons the colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery."
Nikole Hannah-Jones' new book is topping the best-seller lists of both Amazon and The New York Times in its first week. There's also a children's version of the book, titled "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water."
After Hannah-Jones published the 1619 Project in August 2019, she gave paid speeches on the project to many schools around the country.
EXCLUSIVE: UNC WILMINGTON PAYS NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES OVER $16.5K FOR 55-MINUTE EVENT
Nikole Hannah-Jones attends the 75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony in New York on May 21, 2016. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
More recently, the University of North Carolina Wilmington paid Hannah-Jones $16,670 to speak at a university event (which included a 40-minute speech and a 15-minute question and answer session), and also paid for her airfare, transportation, meals, and lodging for up to two nights.
In May, the Oregon Department of Education paid $50,000 to host Hannah-Jones for two separate events, partnering with the Oregon Alliance of Black School Educators.
Some of the $50,000 even came from a state-sponsored program meant to lower absenteeism within disadvantaged students.
Campus Reform reported in April that the University of Oregon paid $25,000 to host Hannah-Jones for a virtual event.
Nicole Hannah-Jones attends 2019 ROOT 100 Gala on Nov. 21, 2019, in New York City. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Other supporters of critical race theory have also been paid large amounts to speak at colleges across the country, as well.
The University of Michigan paid $20,000 to host Ibram X. Kendi in November of 2020, where he spoke for one hour at a virtual event discussing his book "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America."
An entrance to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. (wellesenterprises)
Kenny Xu, author of the book "Inconvenient Minority" and president of Color Us United, told Fox News that there is now an entire "industry" that pays individuals to "peddle a certain kind of victim ideology."
"You actually have an industry set up with corporate funding, government funding, you know, equity funding that is actually set up to pay people hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to go out and spread this ideology to people," Xu said.
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Xu said that the money used to pay for these speakers be used to better help students, such as merit pay increases for teachers and more training.
"Maybe instead of paying exorbitant fees and speakers that you’re extending, maybe you can use them to hire better teachers and to merit pay teachers and and to teach them that, you know, teach them math and science and actual skills that enable them to actually, you know, be able to graduate from college pretty confident in their career prospects," he said.
Xu also said it's "bad for education" when schools are spending large amounts of money to host speakers peddling critical race theory.
"You're paying these people basically to teach kids to hate society and hate the structure of America, which of course, is going to prevent them later in life from being able to go and achieve their wildest dreams," Xu said.
Fox News' Jessica Chasmar and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
