Negro Population Quotes
Sanger was not only anxious to work with Black organizations, but she hired Blacks in her own projects—a very unusual practice for the time. There have always been in America some Blacks who saw in birth control a plan to reduce the Black population. However, there are also always been some whites who favored birth control and other activities precisely because they might reduce the Black population. So what seems like paranoia may actually be a rational reaction to other people and forces.
Many people erroneously attribute this quotation to Margaret Sanger, who had observed that the upper class women generally knew how to practice birth control and could obtain the devices that were available at the time while the poor and uneducated knew very little and not only did not have the money to obtain birth control devices, but the laws made it illegal so that no one dared to promote it. Du Bois was in many ways, a Black elitist and this quotation reflects that.
Orthodox communist thinking assumed that the Blacks would “fall into the communist camp,” because of the legal support for racism and discrimination of the majority of America. While a few did, as Allen warned most would not as much of the communist doctrine was antithetical to Black cultural values. Religion is probably the best example. Allen was prescient.
