Helllooooooo.
It's your friendly neighborhood @AngryBlackLady here comin' in hot with scalding takes about Margaret Sanger and the lies anti-choicers tell about her.
You ready to debunk some myths, people!?
I said...
ARE YOU READY TO DEBUNK SOME MYTHS!?
Allons-y!
It's your friendly neighborhood @AngryBlackLady here comin' in hot with scalding takes about Margaret Sanger and the lies anti-choicers tell about her.
You ready to debunk some myths, people!?
I said...
ARE YOU READY TO DEBUNK SOME MYTHS!?
Allons-y!
It’s Margaret Sanger’s birthday today and anti-choicers are out in full force doing their favorite things:
Projecting all of their own anti-Blackness on to Maggie Sangz while yelling at Black people for supporting Planned Parenthood.
Projecting all of their own anti-Blackness on to Maggie Sangz while yelling at Black people for supporting Planned Parenthood.
"How dare you Black women support Planned Parenthood? Don't you know you're participating in your own genocide?" they wail as they clutch their pearls.
"Don’t you know the most dangerous place for a Black child is in the womb?" they keen because yes, they have the audacity.
"Don’t you know the most dangerous place for a Black child is in the womb?" they keen because yes, they have the audacity.
If you think of the anti-choice community as a pyramid, then the lies about Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood are concocted at the top—
and those lies trickle down to people who often are too busy or ideologically compromised to bother uncovering the truth for themselves.
and those lies trickle down to people who often are too busy or ideologically compromised to bother uncovering the truth for themselves.
So I thought I’d take the time to debunk some persistent myths about Margaret Sanger and provide you with a quick and dirty guide on how to shut down disingenuous anti-choicers who spew lies about Margaret Sanger.
Come and have a listen.
Come and have a listen.
**MYTH 1**
Margaret Sanger wanted to eradicate Black people through abortion.
**FACT**
No she didn't. She opposed abortion. Planned Parenthood didn’t perform any abortions while Sanger was alive. It wasn't even legal until after she died.
Margaret Sanger wanted to eradicate Black people through abortion.
**FACT**
No she didn't. She opposed abortion. Planned Parenthood didn’t perform any abortions while Sanger was alive. It wasn't even legal until after she died.
Here’s Maggie in her own words:
"Although abortion may be resorted to in order to save the life of the mother, the practice of it merely for limitation of offspring is dangerous and vicious.”
Her views are pretty much in line with anti-choicers today. Isn't it ironic?
"Although abortion may be resorted to in order to save the life of the mother, the practice of it merely for limitation of offspring is dangerous and vicious.”
Her views are pretty much in line with anti-choicers today. Isn't it ironic?
**MYTH 2**
Margaret Sanger wanted to spread contraception in Black communities in order to shut down their baby-making operations and reduce the Black population.
**FACT**
No she didn’t. She wanted Black women to have the freedom to control how many children they had.
Margaret Sanger wanted to spread contraception in Black communities in order to shut down their baby-making operations and reduce the Black population.
**FACT**
No she didn’t. She wanted Black women to have the freedom to control how many children they had.
Maggie worked closely with prominent Black leaders during her time in order to teach Black folks about contraception.
Did you know that she opened up a clinic in Harlem that was a huge success? Guess who was on the board of that clinic?
WEB DuBois.
Did you know that she opened up a clinic in Harlem that was a huge success? Guess who was on the board of that clinic?
WEB DuBois.
By now, your average anti-choicer will probably be frothing at the mouth about the Negro Project.
"What about the Negro Project? That was Margaret Sanger's plot to eradicate Black people!"
Except no. No it really wasn’t.
"What about the Negro Project? That was Margaret Sanger's plot to eradicate Black people!"
Except no. No it really wasn’t.
Sure, the Negro Project sounds sinister—mostly because who the hell says Negro anymore besides maybe Jeff Sessions—but it wasn’t.
It was about bringing birth control to the South because Black leaders like WEB DuBois thought Southern Black women needed contraception access too.
It was about bringing birth control to the South because Black leaders like WEB DuBois thought Southern Black women needed contraception access too.
If WEB DuBois were alive today, he’d be what we call an influencer, and he’d probably be a hit on TikTok. And he would probably follow Margaret Sanger on Twitter although he'd likely have her muted.
But I digress.
But I digress.
**MYTH 3**
Sanger was in the KKK.
**FACT**
No she wasn’t in the friggin KKK despite what the ridiculous photoshopped meme might suggest. She doesn't even have legs!
Sanger was in the KKK.
**FACT**
No she wasn’t in the friggin KKK despite what the ridiculous photoshopped meme might suggest. She doesn't even have legs!
Maggie was obsessed with birth control—so obsessed she was willing to talk to literally anyone about it, including the ladies of the KKK in Silver Lake, NJ in 1926.
If Sanger were alive right now, she’d go to a Q-Anon or Proud Boys convention and throw birth control in the air.
If Sanger were alive right now, she’d go to a Q-Anon or Proud Boys convention and throw birth control in the air.
**MYTH 4**
Most Planned Parenthood clinics are located in Black neighborhoods—the number varies but usually it's 80%—and that's just what Margaret Sanger wanted.
**FACT**
Nope. 60% of abortion clinics are located in majority white neighborhoods and Sanger opposed abortion.
Most Planned Parenthood clinics are located in Black neighborhoods—the number varies but usually it's 80%—and that's just what Margaret Sanger wanted.
**FACT**
Nope. 60% of abortion clinics are located in majority white neighborhoods and Sanger opposed abortion.
**MYTH 5**
Abortion is why the Black family is in such disarray. Black men need to stop having kids out of wedlock and be fathers to their children.
**FACT**
A 2018 CDC study show that Black fathers are more involved in their children’s lives than their white counterparts.
Abortion is why the Black family is in such disarray. Black men need to stop having kids out of wedlock and be fathers to their children.
**FACT**
A 2018 CDC study show that Black fathers are more involved in their children’s lives than their white counterparts.
This really sticks in my craw, so I'm gonna take a minute to explain why.
Did you know that in some states, the amount of public assistance benefits a person is entitled to depends on their marital status?
Yeah.
Did you know that in some states, the amount of public assistance benefits a person is entitled to depends on their marital status?
Yeah.
Some Black women remain unmarried even though their children's father is very involved in their lives—
so they can receive public assistance to raise kids the government is forcing them to have.
It's messed up and the "Black folks just need to get married" argument is trash.
so they can receive public assistance to raise kids the government is forcing them to have.
It's messed up and the "Black folks just need to get married" argument is trash.
The next few tweets are for folks who are pro-choice or reproductive justice advocates:
Please ignore anti-choicers' ongoing efforts to frame Margaret Sanger as racist so they can argue that Planned Parenthood is too racist to exist.
It's a trap.
Please ignore anti-choicers' ongoing efforts to frame Margaret Sanger as racist so they can argue that Planned Parenthood is too racist to exist.
It's a trap.
Black scholars disagree about how racist she was. She wasn’t KKK-racist (which is the only racism that anti-choicers and conservatives even consider racism).
And either way, it's not really important—at least not to me.
Here's what is:
And either way, it's not really important—at least not to me.
Here's what is:
Margaret Sanger wanted to eradicate people with disabilities.
Literally.
She was a eugenicist. Not the kind that wanted to Make America White Again, but the kind that believed forcibly sterilizing people with disabilities was just hunky dory.
Literally.
She was a eugenicist. Not the kind that wanted to Make America White Again, but the kind that believed forcibly sterilizing people with disabilities was just hunky dory.
Reproductive justice advocates keep ignoring this aspect of Margaret Sanger's birth control crusade and that needs to change.
It's long past time to stop ignoring that Sanger advocated for keeping "imbeciles" and "morons" from breeding.
It's long past time to stop ignoring that Sanger advocated for keeping "imbeciles" and "morons" from breeding.
At a time when the COVID pandemic is sparking conversations about the value of a particular human life, it is incumbent upon reproductive justice advocates to show solidarity with people with disabilities—a community that Sanger derided and wanted to eradicate.
For more on Margaret Sanger, you should read this article I wrote 5 years ago. Or was it 10 or 20 years? One never knows because time is a lie. rewire.news/article/2015/0…
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