When discussing eugenics, one may solely associate the practice with the Nazi regime in Germany. Very few are aware or are willing to admit that eugenics, the practice of forced sterilization of men and women, also took place in these United States.
The State of New Jersey passed its first sterilization law in 1911, but it was never implemented due to outrage from the state’s large Catholic population. Those selected for forced sterilization in our state were “the feeble minded, epileptic, habitual criminals, and those convicted of rape.”
The law was finally overturned by the state Supreme Court in Smith v. Board of Examiners, thank goodness.
Nationwide, the poor were the main candidates for sterilization; girls and boys in their early teens, unwed mothers, the blind, the mentally and physically disabled, and black males and females. That practice waned, and by the early 1970s, only poor black children and adults continued to be violated by their own government.
The State of North Carolina was one of the most horrific offenders, sterilizing 7,600 people, mostly black, without their knowledge or consent. A 10-year-old boy was actually sterilized by this state. It was routine for the state to lie to young black girls, informing them that their appendix was being removed, while physicians actually removed their ovaries.
This barbarism continued with little protest, and no assistance from elected officials who knew people were being exploited and victimized. One woman, now 52, told of being raped at 15, giving birth to her only son and then being forcibly sterilized. The State of North Carolina apparently viewed these women as nothing more than dogs, allowing them no say whatsoever regarding their reproductive health. One less black child coming into the world was apparently viewed as beneficial to the society at large.
Of those wrongfully sterilized by North Carolina, 1,800 victims are still alive and qualify for the $50,000 in compensation that the bipartisan Eugenics Task Force recommended to Gov. Beverly Perdue. This plan to compensate the survivors of the eugenics program passed the North Carolina House, and the governor budgeted $10 million for the identified victims and any who may come forward over the next decade. The legislation then went to the North Carolina Senate, where it was expected to pass, since it had been discussed for several years, and a tentative agreement had been reached.
But then politics kicked in, and I mean conservative Republican tea party politics, where people just don’t give a damn about anybody else if there is a cost attached — especially if those victimized are poor, black and trusting of authority.
The victimized women made a huge mistake putting their trust in government and medical practitioners who viewed them as a source of cheap farm labor, or an expense to the state unworthy to reproduce. The North Carolina Senate, which is Republican controlled, voted along strict party lines to defeat this compensatory funding, denying any semblance of justice to these 1,800 people.
If you ever want to know why so many people of color overwhelmingly vote for any party other than the GOP, this is a great example. Not only did the Republican senators in North Carolina deny justice, the comments they made justifying their decision were cold and callous.
Sen. Chris Carney stated, “If we do something like this you open up the door to other things the state did and I’m sure you’d agree are worse than this.” Sen. Don East said, “You can’t rewrite history; it was a sorry time in this country.”
Well, apparently it still is, Senator.
Why have the Christian evangelicals and “anti-choice” activists remained completely silent regarding these 1,800 living victims of eugenics?
It does not matter if one resides in North Carolina or any other state in the union. With reproductive rights landing as a major issue in this presidential election year, this is a critical issue that can still be addressed. But the response by these very powerful men is to punish these women further, leading them through a political maze before dashing their expectations with the rationalization that it was a sorry time in our nation’s history.
It amazes me that so many of these individuals conveniently cloak themselves in Christianity when it comes to women’s reproductive rights, but quickly and conveniently lose their religious beliefs when the opportunity presents to aid victims of government-enforced eugenics, rape and incest.
Hypocrites one and all.
Milton W. Hinton Jr. is director of equal opportunity for the Gloucester County government. He is past president of the Gloucester County Branch NAACP. His column states his personal views, not those of any organization or agency. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org