Marcus Garvey
Born in Jamaica in 1887, Marcus Garvey found his way to New York by 1919 where he created the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) that preached Black Nationalism not only in America but also across the globe. Garvey preached, "The Black skin is not a badge of shame but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness." By 1925, the UNIA boasted more members than the NAACP thus inciting opposition and outright belligerence between the two groups. Garveyites tended to be young and energetic, drawing on the racial pride instilled by the Harlem Renaissance and were tired of the pedantic nature of the court system. Ironically, the attitude of the Garveyites toward the NAACP mirrored the criticism the NAACP expressed toward Booker T. Washington in the previous quarter century. Discouraged by the racial regression experienced by black soldiers returning from Europe, the UNIA connected with the yearning for self-determination espoused by President Wilson’s call to make the world safe for democracy in World War I. Garvey made a tragic mistake in 1922 when he met with KKK leaders to reassure them that Garveyites and white supremacists shared the common goal of racial purity. When two of his supporters killed Pastor James W. H. Eason for quitting the organization, Garvey urged blacks to seek accommodation explaining that the “Southern White Man is the best friend the Negro ever had.” The UNIA dissolved soon after Marcus Garvey was deported in 1925. Southern whites were delighted. African Americans were no more united in 1930 than they were in 1877.
