The only redeeming value of Rich Lowry’s recent column, “No, slavery didn’t create capitalism” (Feb. 9), is that it might pique U.S. citizens’ interest in drawing their own conclusions into reading “The 1619 Project.”

In my opinion, “The 1619 Project” should be mandatory reading for all high school seniors so they will learn that the founding of our country was based on slavery and the exploitation of Black and indigenous people.

Historian Joshua Rothman states the truth clearly when he says that “culture would drive cotton production up to the Civil War, and it has a defining characteristic of American capitalism ever since. It is the culture of acquiring wealth without work, growing at all costs, and abusing the powerless.”

In keeping up with current events, I can see that this definitely is true today for our poor and powerless, including our non-white citizens.

Carmen Dufresne, Auburn