EUGENICS: THE INVISIBLE WEAPON OF WHITE SUPREMACY

Be honest, you have no idea what Eugenics is, what it means, where it comes from, and how it affects the world we live in today. American history has the tendency to be watered down and sometimes completely erased, particularly when atrocities are perpetrated by whites or elite groups.. This article will educate the readers on what eugenics is and how it has been and still is used as a weapon of white supremacy.

DEFINING EUGENICS

Eugenics, as defined by Karl Pearson, is “the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race; also with those that develop them to the utmost advantage.” Eugenics eventually referred to selective reproduction with the intent to create children with desirable traits, generally through influencing differential birth rates.

When defining eugenics it can be split into two parts; positive eugenics and negative eugenics. Positive eugenics refer to increased reproduction of those seen to have advantageous heredity traits. Negative eugenics, however, is the discouragement of reproduction by those with hereditary traits perceived as poor. One does not have to be a scientist to understand that positive eugenics would be referring to those who come from privileged and wealthy lineages while negative eugenics is aimed at those born into poor families.

WHEN AND HOW DID IT START?

It is agreed upon that the philosopher Plato was the first to be public about the idea of eugenics. Plato believed that human reproduction should be monitored and controlled by the state. Plato knew that this radical concept of population control would not be accepted so he hid it from the public. Plato made an attempt to analyze genetic inheritance by fixing marriages by numbers which would theoretically bring about more favorable offspring to improve the human race

The philosopher Seneca was known for saying about eugenics, it is “to separate the sound from the worthless.” This frame of thinking was even displayed in some ancient societies such as in Sparta where they practiced infanticide by inspecting babies and disposing those that seemed “unfit.” While these practices are seen as barbaric and disturbing, eugenist still have the same thinking; they just have more sophisticated means to carry out their eugenicist theories.

THE ORIGINATORS

Sir Frances Galton developed the idea of eugenics using social statistics. Galton reasoned that society’s willingness to protect the underprivileged and weak were at odds with natural selection’s way of exterminating the weakest. An offshoot of Social Darwinism, Galton believed that society itself would rid the low poeple if no welfare policies were in place. Galton’s philosophy went on to argue that genius and talent were hereditary traits in humans. Galton believed that the less intelligent were more fertile than the more intelligent.

Karl Pearson, an English mathematician, was also a eugenic pioneer. He was actually a protege of Galton and wrote a biography on him. He too took on the same logic that poor people come from poor genes and no education, training or social assistance would reverse the genes into “good” genes; therefore it was a waste of resources to invest in such people.

Charles Davenport, an English scientist, was another prominent eugenicist. Davenport was important to the eugenics movement in the fact that he helped establish agencies and laboratories focused solely on eugenics and the politics thereof. Davenport had his influence in organizations such as:

• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL),where he was director
• The Eugenics Record Office, which he founded at the CSHL
• International Federation of Eugenics Organizations (IFEO), which he founded

While the IFEO disbanded in the 1930’s, supposedly, the CSHL and Eugenics Record Office are still functional. Also to note, the CSHL has a $150,000,000 budget!

EUGENICS IN AMERICA

Looking at eugenics and what it means as a political philosophy, it is only natural that America has her hands covered in it. Eugenics started to gain steam in America early in the 20th century. By 1928 you could find eugenics in curriculum in 376 university courses. By this time, eugenicist had begun to push toward promoting eugenic legislation.

The insidious nature of eugenicist and their agendas has been veiled in a cloak of wellness, health awareness, and, yes, femininity. The National Federation of Women’s Club, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and the National League of Women Voters are a few feminist organizations that lobbied for eugenic legislation and reforms. One of the main focuses of these feminist organizations was sterilization and birth control. The queen of this movement is none other than Margaret Sanger.

Sanger was a known eugenics supporter and even did speaking engagements for eugenic organizations. Sanger is most known for founding the American Birth Control League, which is today known as Planned Parenthood. Considering that eugenicist sole purpose is to rid the world of “unfit” peoples, the aggressive pushing of birth control and sterilization from Planned Parenthood was a masterful way to ensure that poor whites and Africans in America reduced their birth rates, all while working under the guise of women’s right to choose and feminism. In truth, abortions has been the number one cause of death in the Black community. Black folks have bitten the fruit of feminism movements and liberalism to the point that they don’t see the clear destruction that it is and has always done to their communities.

America has also been known to practice compulsory sterilization. In 1907, Indiana became the first state to enact sterilization legislation, followed by Washington and California. Sterilization was forced upon patients who were deemed to be mentally retarded, as well as those who were criminally convicted of crimes. In North Carolina, having an IQ of 70 or lower meant that sterilization was an option. Also in North Carolina, they gave authority over social workers to designate people for sterilization. Please, soak that point in. We know that social services has never been a friend of Black people. Imagine the damage that has been done?

In 1972, United States Senate committee testified that approximately 2,000 involuntary sterilizations had been performed on poor Black women without their knowledge or consent. Further investigation found that surgeries were performed on specifically Black “welfare” mothers with multiple children. Between 2006 and 2010, it was reported that 148 women prisoners in California were sterilized in what was said to be a voluntary program. However, the women denied giving consent to participate.

Eugenics has served as a tool to put the have’s in control and in a position of supremacy over the have not’s. Targeted mostly at the poor, immigrant and disabled populations, eugenics has been a complete destroyer of the Black community. Consider that the population of the Blacks stays at 12% while other populations continue to grow. Consider that Blacks suffer from diseases at a higher rate, are arrested and convicted of crimes at a higher rate, are denied access unlike any other people, are redlined from communities, and are underrepresented in almost every industry. Eugenics in terms of Black people has been implemented since slavery and it has never relented. It has changed faces and strategies of implementation, but the population of Blacks in this country has continued to be controlled on a genocidal level.

SOLUTIONS

As with most issues in life and in the Black community, knowledge is the first defense against any weapon, especially the weapons of white supremacy. If you do not know your enemy then you have no purpose in fighting, for you do not know who or what you are fighting. Once the knowledge is obtained — and this article is a good start to that knowledge — the choice to make is on the student. You can ignore the facts and history of the Ma’afa that Africans in America continue to endure. Or you can put aside differences in beliefs that keeps Blacks separate so that unity can be achieved. With knowledge and unity at the forefront, mountains can be moved. This is a hard row to hoe, for the Sunken-Place Syndrome and Negropean identity crisis (which too is a form of eugenics/miscegenation) has snared many Black men, women and children. Resist with one another. Fight for one another. Stay watchful and stay Black. Wapende watu wako!

Umoja N. Black