World Socialist Web Site writer Lawrence Porter demolishes the hagiographic view of Marcus Garvey promoted by the current purveyors of racialist politics, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and others, who paint Marcus Garvey as a progressive figure.
“Garvey’s pursuit of wealth and power emerged directly from his politics. He is among the first substantial proponents of black capitalism. … Garvey praised capitalism and the development of a black bourgeoisie dedicated to its preservation,” Porter writes. This essay is the Marxist answer to the positions of contemporary advocates of black nationalism, who themselves are profiting from the promotion of a reactionary and divisive ideology.
