To me this doesn't read as defending or justifying it. I interpret it as "here's someone making fun of critics of the 1619 Project by making it seem like they think that the 1619 Project is literally trying to redefine when the USA was founded (as a collection of slave states) - but that's a complete strawman of the argument being made (against the 1619 Project) here".
To me this doesn't read as defending or justifying it. I interpret it as "here's someone making fun of critics of the 1619 Project by making it seem like they think that the 1619 Project is literally trying to redefine when the USA was founded (as a collection of slave states) - but that's a complete strawman of the argument being made (against the 1619 Project) here".