Eugenics: An American Tragedy

ExpPats Post


“There is one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the United States.” ~Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf.

Not long ago I sat down and turned on the TV to catch up on the latest in politics. What I saw instead was a riveting interview by CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper with professor and author, Paul A. Lombardo, who discussed his 2008 book, Three Generations: No Imbeciles. While I make no claims to being an intellectual, I have a college degree and have done some post-graduate work. Not once had I read, nor been instructed in my classes about the practice of eugenics or social engineering in America and its subsequent influence on practices of the Hitler regime.

Paul A. Lombardo stated in the interview that forced sterilization was practiced in the United States from 1907 to well into the 1970’s. Appalled and aghast, I had to find more information. Has this been another chapter in American history books that has been conveniently tossed aside along with details of our internment of Japanese Americans, true accounts of slave and child labor, or a novel such as The Catcher in the Rye? What I will give you here is a cursory glimpse into the accounting of Paul A. Lombardo from his book. My hope is that it will spur you, as it did me, to read more of this horrific time.

According to Lombardo, legally-mandated sterilization was supported by a eugenics movement in the United States. The impetus behind this was to approve sterilization of the “socially inadequate.” Lombardo states, “Indiana enacted the first law allowing sterilization on eugenic grounds in 1907, with Connecticut following soon after. Despite these early statutes, sterilization did not gain widespread popular approval until the late 1920’s.” It then spread to at least thirty states. From what I have read so far, the grounds were rather arbitrary and were to be adopted as a cost-saving strategy “to relieve the tax burden in states where public facilities for the insane and feebleminded had experienced rapid growth.”

Woman Sterilized Against Her Will Awaits Reparations

Jezebel

In 1968, Elaine Riddick was sterilized against her will after a c-section to deliver her first and only child. She was just fourteen years old. Now she's fighting to receive compensation as a victim of North Carolina's Eugenics Board, which sterilized thousands of women, disproportionately black, on such grounds as "feeblemindedness."

Riddick's story — told by the AP — is heartbreaking. She was raised in an abusive home in a dangerous neighborhood, and was raped at the age of thirteen. She became pregnant, and the Board evaluated her for sterilization. Despite reports that she did well in school and would "perform more adequately in an improved environment," she was judged "feebleminded." The final doctor's report on her case is chilling:

Because of Elaine's inability to control herself, and her promiscuity — there are community reports of her 'running around' and out late at night unchaperoned, the physician has advised sterilization. This will at least prevent additional children from being born to this girl who cannot care for herself, and can never function in any way as a parent.

The state of North Carolina apparently judged rape as evidence of promiscuity, and promiscuity as a reason for sterilization — but as Riddick says above, their underlying reason may have been racism. By 1968, 64% of the people recommended for sterilization by the Board were black women and girls. Riddick filed a lawsuit against the Board in 1974 — it was ultimately unsuccessful. But now, a task force has been created to deliver appropriate reparations to Riddick and other sterilization victims. This month, it recommended that North Carolina turn over "lump sum financial damages." Its report said,

For many citizens, it may be hard to justify spending millions when the state is cutting back on other essential services. But the fact is, there never will be a good time to redress these wrongs and the victims have already waited too long.

The task force will deliver a final report in February — hopefully then Riddick will receive the apology and compensation that are painfully overdue.

Woman Fights For Compensation For Forced Sterilization In 1968 By North Carolina [AP]

Dark Past: Michigan sterilized more than 3,000 people from early 1900s to 1970s

MLive
Lindsay Knake

While North Carolina is reliving some of its dark history, Michigan is not without its own.

Michigan was among the 35 states that allowed sterilization of people considered unfit to reproduce.

The stories of dozens North Carolina victims are coming to national prominence after people came forward to speak at a public hearing seeking compensation.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the North Carolina government has a legislative proposal to compensate sterilized people with $20,000 each.

Victims have said they were lied to about the procedure. About 7,600 people in North Carolina were sterilized over five decades, and about 3,000 of those people are still alive, according to CNN.

Michigan shares in the eugenics horror often associated with Nazis, as more than 3,000 residents were involuntarily sterilized, according to a January 2009 document from the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society.

Eugenics is the process of selectively breeding humans and animals to get rid of undesirable characteristics.

When Peru Practiced Mass Sterilization With IMF Blessings

Axis of Logic

The French media have said little in favor of the victory by leftist-nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala over Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, in Sunday’s Peruvian presidential elections. The elections revived a scandal about a forced-sterilization program led by Alberto Fujimori from 1995 to 2000 with blessings from the IMF, financial support from NGOs including the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), and few questions about the approaches used.

Under IMF tutelage and banner for the fight against poverty by birth control, during the late 90's Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian politician of Japanese ancestry, promoted a program of forced sterilization for the lowest social strata. Illiterate indigenous peasants were the key target. The reported number of victims is 300,000. Over the same period 25,590 men underwent vasectomies.

The family planning program that advocated this voluntary surgical contraception (AQV) was answering a call from the IMF to reduce the country’s birth rate.

In exchange for bonuses, government emissaries persuaded women to let themselves be operated on for some cash and for food that was limited mostly to a bag of rice. The finality of the sterilization was kept hidden. Appalling sanitation resulted in medical complications. Over 20 deaths were officially recorded.

The reports mostly show that the victims were usually not informed when they gave their consent, and coercive measures were often used. The program also involved a quota system. Public-sector medical personnel were forced, under threat of dismissal, to sterilize some number of women set by their department every month.

In twenty years, only one family has been compensated, although around 2,000 have filed complaints.
Although many observers have expressed concern about Ollanta Humala, whose personality is presented as caustic because of his Marxist-Leninist roots, the victory of this former lieutenant-colonel seems more like "The Revenge of the other Peru": that of the poor Indian. Peru’s 48-year old new president is putting aside the Chavez model and wishing to follow in Lula’s footsteps.

Translated for Axis of Logic by author and columnist, Dady Chery.

Original Source in French: Le Monde