More handpicked essays just for you.
FEATURE ARTICLE/ HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES Eugenics: Past, Present, and the Future main idea
FEATURE ARTICLE/ HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES Eugenics: Past, Present, and the Future main idea
FEATURE ARTICLE/ HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES Eugenics: Past, Present, and the Future main idea
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Episode I The American Eugenics Movement was led by Charles Davenport and was a social agenda to breed out undesirable traits with an aim of racial purification. Eugenics was a used to breed out the worst and weakest to improve the genetic composition of the human race, and advocated for selective breeding to achieve this. The science of eugenics rested on simple mendelian genetics, which was a mistake because they were assuming complex behaviors could be reduced to simple mendelian genes. After Nazi Germany adopted the ideas behind the American eugenics movement to promote the Aryan race, the eugenics movement was completely discredited. Hoffman’s extinction thesis was the idea that “black’s” were inherently weak and doomed to extinction. …show more content…
Thomas Jefferson is the first person to truly articulate a theory on race in the united states. Jefferson believed in democracy and freedom but had to justify slavery of non-white individuals. He did this by posing the notion that there is something inherently different about whites and non-whites that make blacks inferior to whites. Thomas Jefferson played an important role in the creating of scientific race by trying to figure out what it is scientifically that makes “blacks inferior to whites”. This sets scientists up on the path of creating scientific race because if that’s the question posed by scientists, then that is what will be answered. Louis Agassiz played an important role in the creation of scientific race by being influenced by American racism and transforming his long held belief in the unity of mankind. He co-authored a book called Types of Mankind, which is a compilation of research that justified the argument that African-American, Native-Americans, Asians, etc. were different species. Both Thomas Jefferson and Louis Agassiz laid the foundation and promoted the idea that race is biological, and there are inherent differences which played an important role in creating scientific …show more content…
I think the most interesting detail within this episode was that during the United States expansion period, politicians and popular belief used “science” to justify their heinous actions towards other non-Caucasian people. They justified enslaving “blacks”, destroying Indians, as not selfish acts but used the inevitability of science and how Caucasians are superior to justify their actions. I just find this surprising that people were so manipulated by science to believe that their actions were justified, even though they were promoting enslavement and killing of other individuals. I think racial science of the past wasn’t used as a tool for discovery but to justify racial disparity and the actions of Caucasians. Racial science in the past was used to fit the narrative of Caucasians and their so called “superiority” over other races. One concept from chapter eight I find to be very relevant to this episode are the theories of race and ethnicity, specifically the conflict theory. The conflict theory is the belief that majority groups use racism and ethnocentrism to protect their interests (Ferris, 2016). This episode touched a lot upon the history of racism and racial construction within the united states. Caucasians justified their actions and protected their interests by constructing racial superiority and scientific beliefs that were racist, which is an example of
The studies by Morton, Rush, Agassiz, and Nott helped support and justify racial segregation via rational science making it readily accepted by white Northerners as matter of fact rather than a possible act of moral turpitude. Through the development of racial science the Northerners were able to legitimize their involvement with the institution of slavery in order to ensure their own stability and way of life.
In “From Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson includes some proposed alterations to the Virginia Laws and discusses some differences between blacks and whites. First, he describes one of the proposed revisions regarding slavery: All slaves born after the enactment of the alteration will be freed; they will live with their parents till a certain age, then be nurtured at public disbursement and sent out of state to form their own colonies such that intermarrying and conflicts can be avoided between blacks and whites. Next, Jefferson indicates some physical differences between blacks and whites, including skin color, hair, amount of exudates secreted by kidneys and glands, level of transpiration, structure in the pulmonary organ, amount of sleep, and calmness when facing dangers. As he notes, these differences point out that blacks are inferior to whites in terms of their bodies. In addition, Jefferson also asserts that the blacks’ reasoning and imagination are much inferior to the whites’ after he observes some of the art work and writings from the blacks. As a result, based on his observation, he draws a conclusion that whites are superior to blacks in terms of both body and mind. However, Jefferson’s use of hasty generalization, begging the question, and insulting language in his analysis is a huge flaw which ruins the credibility of his argument and offenses his readers.
Pearson, Willie Jr. (1985). Black Scientists, White Society, and Colorless Science: A Study of Universalism in American Science. Milwood, NY: Associated Faculty Press
The assumption that black people have lesser moral values and have a greater inclination towards violence is not new. According to Herman Gray, “Blackness was constructed along a continuum ranging from menace on one end to immortality on the other, with irresponsibility located somewhere in the middle.” (Gray) T...
In today’s age, African-Americans are still viewed as the lower race. There are entire ghettos associated with housing only African-American individuals and cities are divided among racial lines. For example, our hometown of Chicago, the north serves as residence to the “whites” while the south end of the city home to “blacks”. There is a wide-spread belief that African-Americans are not as smart as the rest of the population, are in some way related to a criminal background, and/or do not care about their betterment in any way and are lazy. This is because, Mills argues, racial realists associate racial characteristics to the “peculiar” history of that race. This makes argument makes logical sense given the oppressive history of African-Americans in
...by Charles W. Mills, the author attempts to provide an explanation for the way that race plays a role in our society, and how it has reached this particular point. Not only does Mills’ work provide some explanation in regards to this matter, but other notable texts and documents connect to his ideas as well, such as Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s, “Racial Formation in the United States,” and the remarks made by Abraham Lincoln in “The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.”
The eugenics movement was a period of time when it was believe that the genes of your father and mother gave rise to any and all traits, whether it be physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, and moral. Essentially, eugenics established that all of a persons appearance, skill, and potential was rooted in your genes.
...ished, Morgan believes race did begin to determine ones place in society since “…their color disclosed their probable status…” (Morgan, p.137). As proof he cites the different laws regarding blacks and whites (Morgan, p.136-137) which indicate different places in society.
The novel is loaded with a plethora of imageries of a hostile white world. Wright shows how white racism affects the behavior, feelings, and thoughts of Bigger.
The Nazi’s perpetrated many horrors during the Holocaust. They enacted many cruel laws. They brainwashed millions into foolishly following them and believing their every word using deceitful propaganda tactics. They forced many to suffer doing embarrassing jobs and to live in crowded ghettos. They created mobile killing squads to exterminate their enemies. Finally, as part of “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question”, they made concentration and killing camps. Another thing the Nazi’s did was to use eugenics as another mean to micromanage the population. What is eugenics, you might ask? It’s the field of scientific study or the belief in genetically improving qualities, attributes and traits in the human race and/or improving the species as a whole—usually done by controlled/selective breeding. Those with positive, desirable, and superior traits are encouraged to reproduce and may be given monetary incentives by the government to have large families. Those with negative, undesirable, or inferior traits may be discouraged from having offspring. They may be sterilized, or undergo dangerous medical procedures or operations with high mortality rates. I chose this topic because it appealed to me and seemed interesting. In the following paragraphs, the tactics, methods, and propaganda the Nazi’s used will be exposed.
The beginnings of racial difference can be traced back to the Age of Exploration, during which England was expanding its trading routes and was highly involved with trade in Africa. The English traders noticed distinguishing differences between themselves and the African people, both in physical appearance and cultural primitiveness. It was not until the 18th century when the word race began to enter languages and vocabularies, and this idea of a difference between peoples was prodded further into existence through the work of Carolus Linnaeus. Linnaeus composed a list of subspecies of human beings based on racial differences. There were several other scientists, such Georges Cuvier and Charles Darwin, as who created subspecies of man. Social Darwinism, alluded to the concept that eventually one greater subspecies of man would prevail and be the most elite of all of human kind. These lists often categorized the order of species with the white, European man at the top of the list and the darker skinned, African man at the bottom. An example of a concept of categorization was the Great Chain of Being, through which all things, including man and the subspecies of man, are given ...
“Black, white and brown are merely skin colors. But we attach to them meanings and assumptions, even laws that create enduring social inequality.”(Adelman and Smith 2003). When I first heard this quote in this film, I was not surprised about it. Each human is unique compared to the other; however, we are group together based on uncontrollable physical characteristics. Eyes, hair texture, and skin tone became a way to separate who belongs where. Each group was labeled as having the same traits. African Americans were physically superior, Asians were the more intellectual race, and Indians were the advanced farmers. Certain races became superior to the next and society shaped their hierarchy on what genes you inherited.
From the article, Davis’s main argument is that the mainstream society has developed the perception the black men are to blame for the
Racism and ethnocentrism are two major substantive areas that stand out to me in the show. “Racism is the belief that members of separate races possess different or unequal traits” (Conley 323). “Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture group is superior to others and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one’s own” (Conley 326). Chris faces racism of some sort each day, he is picked on by white students and when he rides the bus to school no one will sit in a seat with him or stand near him. Chris’ teacher believes Chris is the product of every black stereotype known, and she sympathizes with him on a regular basis as an attempt to prove too she is not racist when in reality she says offensive things to him daily. The students in school have been raised with these ideologies about black people. When he decides to run for president he is able deconstruct some of the stereotypes and garner the support of his
The evolution of technology has been hand in hand with the human subjugation of earth, but the question persists, when does the use of technology go too far? Advances in medical science have increased the average human lifespan and improved the quality of life for individuals. Medical science and biology are steadily arriving at new ways to alter humans by the use of advanced genetic alteration. This technology gives rise to the question of how this new technology ought to be used, if at all. The idea of human enhancement is a very general topic, since humans are constantly “enhancing” themselves through the use of tools. In referring to human enhancement, I am referring specifically to the use of genetic intervention prior to birth. Julian Savulescu, in his, “Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Enhancement of Human Beings,” argues that it is not only permissible to intervene genetically, but is a morally obligatory. In this paper, I will argue that it is not morally obligatory to intervene genetically even if such intervention may be permissible under certain criteria. I will show, in contrast to Savulescu’s view, that the moral obligation to intervene is not the same as the moral obligation to prevent and treat disease. In short, I will show that the ability of humans to intervene genetically is not sufficient to establish a moral obligation.