Washington sabotaged rival Black political movements through spies and press control

Evidence

Washington, in any case, was not bound by any manner of class courtesy when his political position was threatened. He manipulated the Negro press through those newspapers he subsidized or owned (which included the New York Age, the Washington Colored American, Alexander’s Magazine and the Washington Bee— see Brisbane, op. cit., p. 38), and had resort to more insidious methods: “Washington began plotting the destruction of the Niagara Movement from the very day of its inception. He planted spies and informers within the group and actually sought to encourage dissension and division. And through the use of his considerable influence over the editors and publishers of Negro newspapers, he was able to effectuate at least a partial blackout of news of the Niagara Movement within the Negro press.” Ibid., p. 41. Du Bois characterized the method of the Tuskegee-fronted structure of domination “monstrous and dishonest.” Du Bois, The Autobiography, op. cit., p. 247. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2181

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

Broader Connections