Aggressive population control campaigns in Africa have their roots in American foreign policy going back nearly 60 years. US authorities concluded that rapid population growth in the developing world threatened America’s access to cheap resources necessary for their consumerist lifestyle. Unknown to many in the countries targeted, and against protests from the Catholic Church, America has pretty much achieved its objectives.
In The Color Purple, Alice Walker creates a scene in the forest village of Olinka in which the villagers grow increasingly excited about the approach of a new road. When the expatriate engineers reach the very edge of their village, without having participated in the planning of the road and with no knowledge of its final destination, the Olinka hold a feast in celebration. The next day the engineers resume work, driving the road through the heart of Olinka village and destroying everything in their path. It can be said a lack of due diligence on the part of the Olinka was their downfall.
In 1958, US President Eisenhower is on record as follows: