The ultimate goal of eugenicists is to direct evolution (Baron, 20). Scientists who supported and of no surprise to the socially conscious still support, the movement believed that by “playing God” and interfering with the successful reproductive capability of various social groups that a super human race could be produced (Ordover, 26). In order to carry out the sinister agenda of what is many times referred to as “scientific racism”, the scientist and supporters knew they could not clearly state their motive and expect public support. Even if the public might have agreed with their agenda, no one would have vocally perpetuated these ideas due to the potential damage it would have to their moral characters (Hare and Hare, 18). Acknowledging this fact, scientists looked toward the institution that had allowed for the disguised support of immoral and socially disgusting mandates for years prior in the form of slavery, the law.
In the 1910s, Eugenicists began to lobby with the government, and slowly insinuate the ideas of their agenda into the minds of a Congress concerned with the ever growing minority population not only in the form of African Americans, but also surprisingly enough, European immigrants (Ordover, 160). The setting of America was one where the average white man’s mental age was low, the status of perceived superiority that had been perpetrated for years already was being challenged, and the government was hungry for any solution to blame for these growing incompetence (Ordover, 162). Prior to making their argument in 1917, Eugenicists carried out a series of IQ tests that oddly enough showed African Americans as the weakest link in society. Interestingly the frame for these tests would later be used to format wh...
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.... Eugenics: Compulsory Sterilization in 50 American States. University of Vermont. March 4. Accessed April 09, 2014. http://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/.
Laughlin, H. H. “Eugenics in America.” The Eugenics Review 17, no. 1 (Apr 1925): 28-35. Accessed April 04, 2014. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2942682/.
Lombardo, Paul. 2010. A Century of Eugenics in America: From the Indiana Experiment to the Human Genome Project. N.p.: Indiana University Press.
Ordover, Nancy. 2003. American Eugenics: Race, Queer Anatomy, and the Science of Nationalism. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota Press.
Wasserman, J, M A Flannery, and J M Clair. “Rasing the Ivory Tower: The Production of Knowledge and Distrust of Medicine Among African Americans.” Journal of Medical Ethics 33, no. 3 (Mar 2007): 1. Accessed April 06, 2014. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2598256/.
Oliver, M. N., Wells, K. M., Joy-Gaba, J., Hawkins, C. B., & Nosek, B. A. (2014). Do Physicians' Implicit Views of African Americans Affect Clinical Decision Making? The Journal of American Board of Family Medicine, 27 (2), 177-188. Retrieved from www.jabfm.org
The eugenics movement started in the early 1900s and was adopted by doctors and the general public during the 1920s. The movement aimed to create a better society through the monitoring of genetic traits through selective heredity. Over time, eugenics took on two different views. Supporters of positive eugenics believed in promoting childbearing by a class who was “genetically superior.” On the contrary, proponents of negative eugenics tried to monitor society’s flaws through the sterilization of the “inferior.”
...ng on Justice Douglas view, it is not right to use genetics and issues of hereditary in legal decisions (Reilly, 1991). Such natural aspects should not violate the individual’s right of procreation and fourteen amendments. Everybody is therefore entitled to basic civic rights. Eugenics movement disappeared after the atrocities by the Germany regime. Although Holmes there was overturning of Homes decision eventually, Ms. Buck and many feebleminded American citizens were victims of State and Supreme Court immorality. Reviewing of the focus period, neither society nor individual got benefits of Compulsory sterilization statutes. The change of attitudes towards mental handicapped people over time is interesting. From late 1950s in the United States, civil and women rights movement, contribute to acts governing the handicapped rights including their rights to reproduce.
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.
Galton, David J., and Clare J. Galton. "Francis Galton: And Eugenics Today." Journal of Medical Ethics, 24.2 (1998): 99-101. JSTOR. Web. 8 Mar. 2010.
In Medical Apartheid The Dark History Of Medical Experimentation On Black Americans From Colonial Times To The Present Washington present an argument supporting scientific racism by doctors lead to“behavioral fallout that cause researcher and African Americans to view each other through jaundiced eyes”(Washington 2006) and that the “culture of American medicine has mirrored the larger culture”(Washington 2006). The Doctors used experimentations on people of color and the used their finding to justified and perpetuated the inequalities that existed during slavery. The Framework used to present this idea is scientific racism. Scientific racism isthe use of scientific techniques and hypothesis to support believe in racism and racial inferiority or superiority. The doctors explain that blacks have been “submissive knee-benders”(Washington 2006) and they were immune to the harsh conditions of the southern American climates. Doctors use whatever reasons he wanted to justify the black 's position. They even went far enough to put the biblical depictions in their explanations.
To choose for their children, the world’s wealthy class will soon have options such as tall, pretty, athletic, intelligent, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Occasionally referred to as similar to “the eugenics of Hitler’s Third Reich” (“Designer Babies” n.p.), the new genetics technology is causing differences in people’s opinions, despite altering DNA before implantation is “just around the corner.” (Thadani n.p.). A recent advance in genetically altering embryos coined “designer babies” produces controversy about the morality of this process.
The practice of eugenics was instituted in the late nineteenth century. Its objective was to apply the rearing practices and procedures utilized as a part of plants and creatures to human procreation. Francis Galton expressed in his Essays in Eugenics that he wished to impact "the useful classes" in the public arena to put a greater amount of their DNA in the gene pool. The objective was to gather records of families who were effective by virtue of having three or more grown-up male kids who had better positions than their associates. His perspective on eugenics can best be expressed by the accompanying section:
Studies have analyzed how African Americans deal with an enormous amount of disease, injury, death, and disability compared to other ethnic group, and whites, Utilization of health services by African Americans is less frequent than other ethnic groups in the country. This non utilization of services contributes to health disparities amongst African Americans in the United States. Current and past studies have shown that because of discrimination, medical mistrust, racial/ethnic background, and poor communication African Americans tend to not seek medical care unless they are in dire need or forced to seek professional care. African Americans would rather self –medicate than to trust a doctor who might show some type of discriminatory
Seven-foot, blonde haired, blue-eyed super-humans bearing the swastika and marching in perfect Aryan rhythm, bred to be smarter, stronger, superior. This is a typical image when people hear the word eugenics, but there are two distinct branches: negative eugenics, which looks at removing undesirables and degenerates from society, and positive eugenics, which looks to promote the positive hereditary traits within society. In this essay I will Look at both sides of the eugenics argument in order to find a conclusion.
Rifkin, Jeremy. "The Ultimate Therapy: Commercial Eugenics on the Eve of the Biotech Century." Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. Ed.
The Web. 27 May 2014. The "Eugenics" - "The. Dictionary.com. The World of the. Dictionary.com, n.d. -. Web.
The term eugenics was coined in the late 19th century. Its goal was to apply the breeding practices and techniques used in plants and animals to human reproduction. Francis Galton stated in his Essays in Eugenics that he wished to influence "the useful classes" in society to put more of their DNA in the gene pool. The goal was to collect records of families who were successful by virtue of having three or more adult male children who have gain superior positions to their peers. His view on eugenics can best be summarized by the following passage:
"Eugenics, Genetic Engineering Lite." The Future of Human Evolution. Humans Future, 2010. Web. 14 Feb 2012.
When created in 1923, the American Eugenics Society exemplified an air of reform with a seemingly positive purpose, however this cannot be further from the truth. In reality, the society polluted the air with myths of weeding out imperfections with the Galtonian ideal, the breeding of the fittest (Carison). The founder of the society, Charles Davensport , preached that those who are imperfect should be eliminated(Marks). From the school desk to the pulpit, the fallacies of the eugenics movement were forced into society. Preachers often encouraged the best to marry the best while biology professors would encourage DNA testing to find out ones fate (Selden). A...