"Scientific" Racism

Eugenics: 1. The study of methods of improving genetic qualities by selective breeding (especially as applied to human mating).

After doing some studying on German history ~ specifically seeking a correlation, if any, between Nazi Germany and attitudes held by Germans living in Germany and other countries ~ I started pondering the "science" of eugenics. We often hear of the Holocaust when we hear of the horrors of eugenics. But what we do not hear much about is the horrors it caused in the United States.

Eugenics was "invented" when the word was coined in the late 19th century by a Briton named Sir Francis Galton and it quickly spread in the U.S. among progressives and the intelligentsia. By the early 20th century, eugenics was widely accepted among the American public ~ even finding it's way into education, politics, and religion. Cousin to Charles Darwin, Galton saw eugenics as a way to evolve mankind through encouraging procreation of "desirables"(positive eugenics) and controlling the birth rates of "undesirables"(negative eugenics). In the U.S., it was negative eugenics that was most utilized.

The lack of science supporting eugenics is laughable, despite its once widespread popularity. However, at the time it was popularized, it is possible that social and economic conditions made Americans susceptible to such reasoning. The early 20th century was a time of depressions, a scarce middle class, and high immigration. With the stock market crash in October 1929, the dawn of the infamous Great Depression broke. Amidst the darkness the people felt, eugenics found it's niche ~ although to assume the economic temperature was solely to blame would be reckless and inaccurate. However, immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe ~ such as the Russians, Jews, and Polaks ~ became targets of the eugenics movement. By no means were immigrants the only groups singled out. Those also targeted were people categorized as criminal, insane, blind, deaf, epileptic, mentally or physically disabled, dependent on the government, idiotic, "feebleminded", deformed, sickly, drunken, imbecile, promiscuous, etc. These conditions were seen as a detriment to society and, therefore, needed to be controlled to maintain pure and healthy bloodlines and reduce the continuation of these traits, as well as to prosper economically.

The birth control measures taken in the U.S. varied from immigration restriction laws and marriage laws to involuntary sterilizations. Laws restricting immigrants to freely enter the United States were enforced and many were rejected for discriminatory reasons in the early 20th century. Also, inter-racial marriages were prohibited. A law was passed prohibiting "epileptics, imbeciles, and feebleminded persons from marrying or having extramarital relations before age forty-five" in Connecticut in 1890. Indiana was the first state to pass a sterilization law in 1907. By 1927, twenty-seven states had sterilization laws, although sterilizing criminals and the mentally ill were commonplace in institutions before state laws were passed allowing such sterilizations. The passing of laws, however, often extended legal sterilization to other "undesirable" groups. For example, after the ruling in Buck vs. Bell in the state of Virginia, anyone deemed worthy of sterilization was forced through the state to have the procedure. In the case of Buck vs. Bell, Carrie Buck was sterilized for "feeblemindedness" and promiscuity. Tried at 17 yrs. old, Carrie had already given birth to a child and Carrie's mother was institutionalized. Carrie ultimately was sterilized after the judge ruled that "three generations of imbeciles was enough". Later it was revealed that Carrie was adopted, and her child was conceived as a result of being raped by a relative of her adopted family. A report card showing her grades to be more than satisfactory also debunked claims that she was of "below average" intelligence ~ though one source reviewed had Carrie's baby as the recipient of the "below average" claims. Regardless, the result of the ruling opened the door to many more Virginians being sterilized. On May 23, 2002 Governor Mark R. Warner issued a formal apology for Virginia's estimated 7,450 sterilizations between 1927 and 1979. By 1941, approx. 36,000 people were sterilized in the U.S. and the number rose to 60,000 by the 1970's.

"Scientific" racism is not based on science. The true reasons behind why this flourished on the back of science when it clearly was not, I am not sure. There is no data to support it, but there surely is to debunk it. For example, their "research" was based on data collected mostly from second-hand accounts about families, by friends and relatives, going back only one to two generations. Can this second-hand statement be proven: "Yeah, I think Aunt Betsy had a limp"? A better question would be: Was it proven? Furthermore, vague terms used to describe conditions worthy of sterilization, like "feeblemindedness", are not definitive and have no basis for measurement. Also, this was before the discovery of DNA. The hereditary term used at that time was "germ plasma", and genetics were far from understood. Today, we clearly know issues such as poor hygiene, laziness, promiscuity, and "feeblemindedness" are not passed on through DNA.

Ultimately, two schools of thought regarding social problems tend to be consistent. The first being that sin, pain and suffering are inevitable constants in the world and that history shows us the best way to deal with them. Secondly, there is the belief that an utopia can be reached when the proper social structures are put in place. It is apparent that those open to eugenics, in some form or another, subscribe to the latter of the two thoughts. There is irony in that often we hear people cry out against racism, but sometimes it is those same people that support issues such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research ~ both issues that are rooted in eugenics. My next blog will touch on the issues most relevant today concerning eugenics, such as abortion and its widespread use through Planned Parenthood. In discussing eugenics, as with all of life's issues, it is important to remember that God did not dump us here on earth to fend for ourselves and leave us to our own "evolutionary" tactics. He does not want us to weed out the weak to progress as humans ~ instead He wants us to become weak so that we rely on His strength for survival. Though it is easier to listen to the ideological shouts of human progression, ultimately it is God's voice that screams salvation and redemption to our soul ~ leaving us with an understanding that surpasses all human wisdom. In short, God's wisdom IS wisdom.

Happy Easter!
~ Lester