Michael Harriot Profile picture
Jul 31, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read Read on X
5,000 yrs from now, archaeologists discover an immaculately preserved American dwelling circa 1950-2000 but can’t figure out who lived there.

Suddenly, the Black archaeologist finds one item and confidently declares

“A Black family lived here.”

Post a pic of what she found.
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More from @michaelharriot

Nov 10
Someone tagged me on this because I've told it before.

Basically, it WAS Canada Dry, until...

A thread
In the days before WebMD, an enterprising scammer could make a fortune promoting ANYTHING as a health product. If you wanted to stay healthy, you needed to include gin, a few cigarettes and some tonic to your health routine Image
But if a scammer REALLY wanted people to trust a product, they would sell it straight to a pharmacy. Like the dude who couldn't sell his tonic named after Dr. Joseph Lister (who had nothing to do with it). He made a deal pharmacist, & the pharmacist sold it as a health drink
Read 25 tweets
Oct 31
I've seen SO MANY ppl use the shutdown as an opportunity to demonize people who receive SNAP benefits, WIC and any kind of government assistance.

Here's the thing:

I agree with those people.

We need to end the WHITE welfare state

BECAUSE welfare works.

A thread:
The original welfare program began when the government decided to help the lazy, uneducated Jamestown colonists who didn't want to work. In exchange for bringing carpenters, farmers & indentured servants who knew how do stuff, colonizers received 50 free acres in "headrights" or "patents."
Virginia even recorded names of the migrant workers. On Apr 19, 1638, George Menefie received 3,000 acres for 60 "servants." But there's only 37 names.

What happened?

He received 1,150 acres, an area about the size of Harlem, for 23 unnamed "negroes..."

Behold the first welfare check.Image
Image
Read 26 tweets
Sep 4
I’m sure you think I’m gonna mention Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the Black fur trader who is known as the first non-indigenous resident of Chicago.

But du Sable was not enslaved when he moved to the mouth of the Chicago river in 1790.

So who TF was buying furs?
Well, remember all that was French territory. In 1719 French entrepreneur Philippe François Renault hopped in a boat in the South of France, stopped in Haiti to purchase 200-500 humans beings & headed to “Upper Louisiana”

By 1760, 900 ppl were enslaved in “Illinois Country” Image
Read 15 tweets
Aug 12
There's a long history of sending military officers into Black cities to stop "crime."

In fact, I'd argue that this is what caused the Democrat & GOP realignment

The story involves gangbangers, bowling, a stolen election & the civil rights era's bloodiest event

A thread:
First of all, when people say it's "unconstitutional" to use the military against civilians, they're not EXACTLY wrong.

It's ILLEGAL.

It began when violent gangbangers & anti-American thugs were causing problems in Democrat-run cities and whining about voter suppression Image
After the Civil War, the traitors who betrayed their country returned to the Democrat-controlled South with their asses thoroughly kicked.

Many patriotic Americans wanted to arrest them for treason, but the prisons were already full.

Don't blame them. It's their culture. Image
Read 52 tweets
Jul 30
Literally none of this is true.

By now, it has become apparent that this man is much dumber than people initially thought, but here is why this specific act of ignorance is so common.

A thread.
"Slavery was standard practice throughout earth..."

Let's start here.

While MOST societies (not all) had forms of involuntary subjugation, people who don't know things use their ignorance and privilege to flatten the idea of slavery.
I always found it funny that ppl who say "slavery existed in every society," also LOVE to differentiate between indentured servants and enslaved people.

Like this guy: Image
Read 21 tweets
Jan 10
Whitewashing the uncomfortable parts of the past doesn't just affect Black stories. For example, you can't fully appreciate how a peanut farmer from Plains, GA became a beloved president unless you know TRUE Black History.

The unwhitewashed history of Jimmy Carter:

A thread.
Jimmy Carter was a simple peanut farmer who grew up in Plains, GA when the deep South was defined by racism. His family taught him not to see color. Instead of asking for handouts, they focused on God, education and...

OK, none of that happened.
First of all, to understand where Jimmy Carter comes from, you have to go back a few generations. Because you probably already know a few of his cousins.

In fact, he might not even be the most famous person in his family. But I'll let you decide.
Read 24 tweets

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