The word “eugenics”, at its Greek root, means “good genes”. The idea is to create a society where human physical and mental defects no longer exist. To some, in passing, this may sound like a noble idea. But, often, the words belie the actions needed to achieve such a goal. Even more importantly, it needs to be asked “who determines what a defect is?”

If you ascribe to what certain folks in the eugenics movement believe, such “defects” could include poverty and ethnicity.

We all know about the Tuskeegee Experiment, in which black men, who had contracted syphillis, were allowed to go untreated for the purpose of determining what the long-term impacts of the disease were. All the while, these men were told that they were receiving treatment when, instead, they received placebos.

However, medical racism and classism did not stop there. The supporters of eugenics, for more than forty years, carried out programs of sterilization on populations they considered unworthy. This was not just a couple of crackpots carrying out a scheme. Some 30 states across the country had eugenics laws on the books. Also, this is not some ancient history. For example, in North Carolina, this practice was carried out from 1929 to 1974. Most of the victims were poor women.

Imagine a young girl whose transgression was being an unwed mother. Now, because of this, some group decides that she doesn’t pass the class, color or morality test so, they decide that, after delivering her baby, she should be sterilized. This is what happened to Elaine Riddick. Her story was far from unusual. North Carolina sterilized more than 7600 women, men and children. In only 500 cases is it clear that the patient knew what was happening to them. More than 60% of those sterilized were black women and girls.

North Carolina is just one of five states to have issued formal apologies for this practice and our federal government, just like with most atrocities against people of color, has not acknowledged, much less apologized, for its complicity in this practice.

So, when people ask why black folks have issues with trusting those in the field of medicine, they should keep stories like this one in the backs of their minds.

Popularity: 100% [?]