Northern capitalists funded Tuskegee to discipline white labor

Evidence

Moreover, it must not be forgotten that his Tuskegee Machine was not solely the idea and activity of black folk at Tuskegee. It was largely encouraged and given financial aid through certain white groups and individuals in the North. This Northern group had clear objectives. They were capitalists and employers of labor These Negroes were not to be encouraged as voters in the new democracy, nor were they to be left at the mercy of the reactionary South. They were good laborers and they could be made of tremendous profit to the North. They could become a strong labor force and properly guided they would restrain the unbridled demands of white labor, born of the Northern labor unions and now spreading to the South and encouraged by European socialism. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 904

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme in this book of external class forces shaping the Black petit bourgeoisie; also echoes the earlier note on how elite patrons shape movements.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 904