Eugenics in America?

[Julpost]

I swear, my worldview is being rocked daily these days. What in the world....??



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/29/60minutes/main614728.shtml

[battlemaiden]

I didn't know about that story, so sad.

But if CBS news or any other reputable media outlet had wanted to uncover eugenics in America they should be speaking up about Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood.

The current form of Planned Parenthood is absolutely not participating in eugenics of the sort on which it is founded...but then the Fernald School in the article you link isn't anymore either and they are still reporting their horrible history.

Please know this is a factual reply, not political in it's intent. Do believe my desire not to offend anyone currently supportive of planned parenthood- it can be such a touchy subject.

Jo

[Michelle in MO]

"Expelled"---the point about Planned Parenthood, and about our country's early involvement in eugenics.

[LNC]

deleted

[Danestress]

It's odd that he says eugenics started in America. Would the practices of Sparta not be considered eugenics?

[Plaid Dad]

It makes for very hard reading, but a lot of information has also come to light about the forced sterilization of non-white women - often without their knowledge - in the U.S. and elsewhere. If you google "forced sterilization" you'll turn up a bunch of articles.

The scary thing is that these ideas are alive and well. Just this weekend my family was having dinner with a woman who runs an "eco-team" at her church. She facilitates discussions about environmental topics from a faith perspective. During a recent talk one of the participants stated that she thought the only way to solve the problems of poverty and hunger was to enforce China's one-child policy worldwide, by force where necessary.

I wonder which of her own children she'd be willing to do away with for the cause.

[Virginia Dawn]

It makes for very hard reading, but a lot of information has also come to light about the forced sterilization of non-white women - often without their knowledge - in the U.S. and elsewhere. If you google "forced sterilization" you'll turn up a bunch of articles.

The scary thing is that these ideas are alive and well. Just this weekend my family was having dinner with a woman who runs an "eco-team" at her church. She facilitates discussions about environmental topics from a faith perspective. During a recent talk one of the participants stated that she thought the only way to solve the problems of poverty and hunger was to enforce China's one-child policy worldwide, by force where necessary.

I wonder which of her own children she'd be willing to do away with for the cause.

It wasn't only non-white women, even though I realize that that was a large focus.

I never realized the extent of the originial planned parenthood philosophy until I read a biography about Katherine Hepburn. Her mother was very politically active in this area. Not only did they advocate attempting to reduce the number of children born to poor and illiterate women, they preached that the women in the "upper" levels of society should be bearing more children in order to create an elite majority.

[nmoira]

But if CBS news or any other reputable media outlet had wanted to uncover eugenics in America they should be speaking up about Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood.It's hard to "uncover" something that is already in the public record. :) There are scores of well known people who advocated eugenics, some very vocally.

[Jenny in Florida]

The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank, by David Plotz.

As I recall, he spends a couple of chapters discussing William Shockley (inventor of the transistor) and his involvement with eugenics.

[Ravin]

I've seen a number of specials on this. One thing that article doesn't mention is that sterilization of institutionalized individuals was standard as well. So there were many of these young men and women who were sterilized, on top of being institutionalized, warehoused, and forgotten. Scary stuff.

There are plenty of cases of the U.S. gov't ignoring Nuremburg. The Tuskegee experiments are another example, not to mention using incarcerated inviduals and experimenting on U.S. military personnel.

Yes, the early Planned Parenthood was involved in eugenics. Birth control can give women control over their own reproduction--or the authorities control over it.