Historian Kerri Greenidge has accused scholars and critics of racism after her award-winning book about slavery, "The Grimkes," faced scrutiny for factual errors and questionable sourcing. The book, which examined a prominent slaveholding family in South Carolina who later became abolitionists, had previously received critical acclaim and won the American Historical Association’s Joan Kelly Memorial Prize.
However, concerns about the book's rigor emerged. Myra Glenn, a retired American history professor and author, described "The Grimkes" in a 2024 examination as "deeply flawed," stating that Greenidge "all too often lacks the evidence to substantiate many of her major claims." Glenn also noted that the work contained factual errors and lacked necessary endnotes.
When presented with these criticisms by The New York Times, Greenidge responded by asserting that she was a victim of racism, telling the outlet, "The attack on Black women academics is real." While she denied plagiarism or fabrication, Greenidge conceded that citations may have been "misattributed."
Following the controversy, "The Grimkes" was removed from Greenidge's author page on her publisher's website, and her name was absent from the American Historical Association's list of Joan Kelly Memorial Prize winners. A spokesperson for Tufts University confirmed that Greenidge is no longer employed as a tenured associate professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, though the university declined to specify the reason for her departure.
Greenidge reiterated her claims of anti-Black sentiment, accusing two senior historians on a university peer review panel of being "hostile toward black women in academia." She suggested the review process was initiated by a white female scholar and even hinted that her race may have influenced The New York Times' decision to report on the accusations.
Another of Greenidge's books, "Black Radical," a 2019 biography of journalist and civil rights activist William Monroe Trotter, is also undergoing renewed examination. This book, which received praise from The New York Times and won the Mark Lynton History Prize, has also drawn attention for its sourcing. Historian Stephen Fox, author of a Trotter biography, stated that upon checking the sources cited in Greenidge's book after its publication, he found discrepancies. The controversy surrounding "The Grimkes" prompted Fox to question the depth of Greenidge's research rigor.