Was Karl Marx a Black Man?

In: Monthly review: an independent socialist magazine, Volume 32, Issue 2, p. 42-58

Abstract

Testimony is provided in support of the thesis that K. Marx was black. Analyzed are the continuing movements of ethnic groups & whole communities between Europe & Africa throughout history, indicating that blacks have been integral to European culture for a long time. Evidence from various studies & letters of people who knew Marx points to his dark color. In his book Nature Knows No Color Line (New York: Helga M. Rogers, 1952), the black anthropologist J. Rogers wrote of Marx's Negroid ancestry. Marx was nicknamed 'the Moor' by family & friends; his wife called him 'schwarzwildchen,' (black little wild one). His swarthiness was described in a biography by S. K. Padover (Karl Marx: An Intimate Biography, New York: McGraw-Hill). Further connection between Marx & the black race came about when his daughter, Laura, married the leading French socialist P. Lafargue, a black man. D. Dunseath.