The ABB-UNIA feud stemmed from CPUSA infiltration, not ideological differences

Evidence

Within a year or two of its founding in 1919, the Brotherhood’s leadership in New York and Chicago was acting in concert with officials of the Communist movement in attempting infiltration and/or subversion of the UNIA. The leaders of the UNIA, having found difficulty in respecting Black nationalists who had conceded the principles of autonomous leadership and “race first” action, were now the subjects of intrigues, public charges and recriminations, and betrayals. Though several historians have traced the antagonism between the Brotherhood and the UNIA to supposed differences on the issues of the roles of socialism and white workers in the Black movement, they do not appear to be the crux of the matter. Much of the rancor between the organizations was a result of the Brotherhood’s insidious tactics, its growing dependence and domination by the CPUSA, and its persistent attempts—by Briggs, Domingo, Moore, and others—to unseat Garvey and the rest of the UNIA’S “Negro Zionist” leaders. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1024