Keri Leigh Merritt, Ph.D Profile picture
Writer. Historian. Traveler. Rocker. Books: #AfterLife #MasterlessMen. NEW: Lillian Smith bio. Film @thecivilwardoc1. IG @kerileighmerritt
eDo Profile picture Twitter author Profile picture Daniel Louis Duncan Profile picture 3 subscribed
Oct 9, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read
So the story from this weekend: Sat night was discussing political messages in the old Warner Bros./Bugs Bunny cartoons. Sunday morn I drive a couple miles down the road & see this:

*Fine print says, "The Boss is Coming!"

(❤️ ya, #ATL!) /1 Anyhow, it had me thinking about the "Father of Contemporary Animation," Chuck Jones. I had been to one of his galleries in New Mexico but still didn't feel like I knew the real story behind his greatness. /2
Oct 2, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
As much as I wish to stay off of Twitter right now I've got to get back on to promote a few things professionally.

I appreciate all of the support I received this weekend after being called "gross" by a fellow historian. /1 A little context: I jumped into the conversation after seeing him absolutely mansplain a WOC - a PhD scholar of slavery and race - abt Maxine Waters.

The minute I pointed out that he had never personally experienced racism/misogyny, he lost his cool. /2
Sep 30, 2018 8 tweets 3 min read
1) Since Thursday, I've received threats & been called "SLIMY AF" & "GROSS" by self-proclaimed liberal men bc of (non-profane!) tweets.

I know the next era of anti-woman name-calling & slut-shaming is coming on fast.

So, ladies (& true allies) - here's some #SundayMotivation 2) @theebikinikill - Double Dare Ya



"We're Bikini Kill, and we want Revolution - Girl-style NOW!

Hey Girlfriend
I got a proposition goes something like this:
Sep 14, 2018 6 tweets 1 min read
How do ppl not know many of the OG country ⭐s were progressives??

Cash:
"I wear the black for the poor & the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times." FTR: Country music (& "musicians") took a hard-right political turn precisely at the same time the genre went super-corporate & mainstream...
Aug 21, 2018 23 tweets 7 min read
Thread as promised on the Solid White (#Confederate) South thesis, including the "herding thesis," culture of honor, "Cracker culture" tropes, & why overturning these rids us (false) history written by white supremacists. 1. In the years following the Civil War, all the way to the post-Depression era, historians-both racists like U.B. Phillips, as well as anti-racists like WEB DuBois & William M. Brewer (the editor of the Journal of Negro History for nearly two decades)-described the white South
Aug 17, 2018 22 tweets 7 min read
I'm seeing some misinformation here re: non-slaveholding southerners fighting in the #CivilWar since @TheTattooedProf 's #RobertELee thread went viral. So let's get a few things right: 1. Support for the #Confederacy varied greatly among non-slaveholders, depending on rural/urban, Upper/Lower South, slave societies/societies w slaves, & ties to slaveholders. Class also mattered: many landholding yeomen DID think 1 day they could own slaves, some rented slaves.
Jun 28, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
.@Econ_Marshall - I'm going through files and thought you might want to tell your co-author that I still use his essay from 1959.

Still so important - and heart-breakingly relevant. Weisberger: "In the first place, white historians have shied away from grasping the nettle of race conflict, mainly because of the difficulty of recognizing their own emotional involvement in the problem." (1959!)
Jun 6, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read
Yes, my book has gotten a lot of exposure. But ALL of that exposure is a result of *years* of hard work/networking/hustling behind the scenes.

I'm not Ivy League. I didn't come from family money and I have no special connections. And I'm a woman in a male-dominated profession. But I got to speak at the Carter Center for one reason: I didn't take "no" for an answer.

They never let authors of first books speak there. They originally said no. But I respectfully and convincingly asserted that I could draw a crowd & sell books.
May 26, 2018 5 tweets 2 min read
People often ask me (as a historian of one of the worst times in America) why ppl didn't revolt/riot/constantly protest their situation.

The sad truth is that ppl are generally unwilling to put their own privileges & fortunes at stake to help those who are less privileged...(1) The idea of "false consciousness" is mostly bullshit. Even uneducated/illiterate ppl know what's best for themselves. They understand self-preservation acutely - often in much more complicated ways than the elite (who never have to worry abt similar issues). (2)