Eugenics in the US

[wakefield26]

So, I was reading the paper this morning and came across this article. Until the 70s, North Carolina had a eugenics program that forcibly sterilized the 'dregs of society'; any inmate or person at a state run institution deemed mentally unfit or morally unbalanced could be sterilized without their consent.

 

This is the first time I've ever heard of this practice in America, but apparently it wasn't uncommon. I did some more reading about it, and it wasn't the only program in the States. In fact, the supreme court declared the practice legal in a decision (Buck vs Bell) that has never been formally overruled. According to wikipedia, between 1907 and 1963 over 64,000 people were sterilized in the United states. These sterilizations were focused on minority races and immigrants, mostly women, to keep them out of the gene pool. Hilter's eugenics programs were said to be modeled off programs in the US.

 

I decided to post about this because it's the first time I've heard of it, never taught in history class. Any thoughts? I thought the reparations talked about in the article seemed low for such an intrusive disregard of rights.

 

 

That's the government for you!

 

[Doom Shepherd]

Not alone in this country, or in the world, though other countries like Canada and Sweden abolished the practice in the 1970's as well.

 

Better methods arose.

[BTGBullseye]

Better methods arose.

Artificial sweeteners for one...