ASIDE;
The
Planned Parenthood Federation of America has been protective of
Margaret Sanger's reputation and defensive of allegations that she was
a racist. They correctly point out that many of the attacks on Sanger
come from anti-choice activists who have an interest in distorting both
Sanger's work and that of Planned Parenthood. While it is
understandable that Planned Parenthood would be protective of their
founder's reputation, it cannot ignore the fact that Sanger edited the
Birth Control review from its inception until 1929. Under her
leadership, the magazine featured articles that embraced the eugenicist
position. If Sanger were as anti-eugenics as Planned Parenthood says
she was, she would not have printed as many articles sympathetic to
eugenics as she did.
[...]
Would the NAACP's house organ, Crisis Magazine, print articles by
members of the Ku Klux Klan? Would Planned Parenthood publish articles
penned by fetal protectionist South Carolina republican Lindsey Graham?
The articled published in the Birth Control Review showed Sanger's
empathy with some eugenicist views. Margaret Sanger worked closely with
W. E. B. DuBois on her "Negro Project," an effort to expose Southern
black women to birth control. Mary McLeod Bethune and Adam Clayton
Powell, Jr. were also involved in the effort. Much later, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. accepted an award from Planned Parenthood and
complimented the organization's efforts. It is entirely possible that
Sanger Ôs views evolved over time. Certainly, by the late 1940s, she
spoke about ways to solve the "Negro problem" in the United States.
This evolution, however commendable, does not eradicate the impact of
her earlier statements.
Full
Black Genocide
