History Of Eugenics

In North America today, society continues to face a detrimental issue surrounding race; the stigma related to race has been slowly improving, yet there is still a somewhat collective mindset of human beings that insist on superiority. Modern racism, as compared to the past racism which is so heavily embedded in world history, is much subtler and in some cases a subconscious decision people find themselves coming to. Consequently, eugenics is a practice that can be traced all the way through history to the present. Eugenics, “the idea of manipulating human production to improve the species [that] has been traced back to Plato’s Republic,” (Barnett, 2004 p.1742) has been a deluded attempt in maintaining control over millions of people throughout

history. The occurrence of eugenics throughout the world is not just an issue from the past, the prior actions of former power players has caused problems associated with race in modern society, as well. The practice of eugenics has caused a detrimental stigma on the topic of race throughout societies all over the world.
According to Coutts & McCarrick (1995), eugenics first came to light in 1883, when Francis Galton, “applied Darwinian science to develop theories about heredity” (p.

163). Almost immediately, these discoveries caused an even larger rift in society; people became obsessed with the idea of superiority and the idea of “bettering society” came to be fairly quickly. As Coutts & McCarrick (1995) point out, Galton, the cousin of Darwin, embraced the idea of survival of the fittest; this mindset was soon adopted by a vast amount of people throughout society. Initially, there were two branches of eugenics: positive and negative. Barnett (2004), explains that “negative eugenics aimed to eliminate, through sterilization or segregation, those deemed physically, mentally, or morally “undesirable”” (p.1742). The negative side of this science, gained popularity so rapidly in fact, according to Gilchrist (1904) “France was the only country, with the exception of a small section of America,” (p.492) where eugenics was not practiced in a harmful way. On the other hand, “positive eugenics encouraged the reproduction of the intelligent, the healthy, and the successful, and tended to be voluntarist,” according to Barnett (2004). While eugenics may have initially been intended to be used with the best intentions, the ethical and moral violations various different countries and societies encouraged has left a scar on the

world.
As Coutts and McCarrick (1995) stated, “phrases such as “survival of the fittest” and “struggle for existence” came into use,” indicating that eugenics had begun as a technique to eradicate certain traits and characteristics; evidently, contradicting the so-called positive eugenics movement. Eugenics, as described by Hubbard (1986), “prejudices against people with disabilities, poor people, and immigrants [and] during the nineteenth century generated a science of "race improvement”” (p. 227). The idea that poverty, was a genetic trait that could be halted with the sterilization of group of people, truly exemplifies how archaic the practice is. Immigrants, in the past, have been subject to IQ tests (not in their native tongue) and if they are deemed to be feeble-minded by the government, they were sterilized in order to prevent the “spread” of feeble-mindedness. The unfair testing of immigrants resulted in thousands of incorrect diagnostic outcomes of people looking to live in a new country. The obsession with superiority in the first world countries around the world has resulted in thousands of people being unjustly treated, harshly limited their ability to have a family and thusly, severely diminished their quality of life. In the article written by Coutts & McCormick (2004), it is emphasized that eugenics not only medically alters the ability for children, but they also controlled the ability to marry in order to minimize the passing on of “undesirable” traits. The practice of eugenics is horribly unethical, and the consequences of it has carried forth throughout history resulting in an ever-present stigma on race.
The practice of eugenics not only placed focus on perceived mental disabilities (e.g. feeble-mindedness or criminal behaviour) but also on physical attributes, such as the colour of one’s skin. According to Olby (1977), “the threat to the future of the American nation presented by the perpetuation and immigration of inferior stock,” (p.156) was an issue that was heavily concerning to the government. The race of an individual, only perpetuated the claims that his/her “issues” may run deeper. Olby’s (1977) describes the attitude that many doctors prescribed to such as, “susceptibility to disease, his perversion, ineducability, and his high rates of insanity and of morbidity. Even the higher birth rate and the lower rate of suicide and alcoholism,” (p.157) were to be a destructive problem specific to people of a different race. The narrow, ethnocentric mindset of this time period led to slaughter of thousands of people throughout history.
Eugenics has never been as popular as it was during the time of the Second World War.

According to Selgelid (2014), “the eugenically-motivated Nazi program of ‘‘Racial Hygiene’’ included a sterilization program that was initially inspired by, and modelled after, the California sterilization program,” (p.5). It is evident, the barbaric practice of this type of racism has occurred all around the world at various times in history. Specifically, “the Nazis… [passed the] 1933 Law for Prevention of Defective Progeny… [and] sterilized a total of 400,000 persons” (Selgelid, 2014, p.5). The moral ineptitude of past governments and dictators has resulted in societies embracing superiority over each other. While Nazi Germany may be one of the largest scale operations to date, there have been numerous all around the world. For example, Coutts’ & McCormick’s research (1995) showed that in 1995 China passed a law requiring “premarital checkups to determine whether either partner carries "genetic diseases of a serious nature," infectious diseases (AIDS, gonorrhoea, syphilis, and leprosy), or a "relevant mental disease.”” (p.165). The popularity of eugenics has certainly died out over time, however, the massive role it played in history has heavily influenced the tenor of beliefs in current society and modern

racism.
As evidenced in the aforementioned cases, eugenics is an unethical practice that only increases the stigma on race, not to mention any other sort of difference one may have. The whole idea of eugenics may have started with Galton in the most noble of fashion but society has since twisted and deluded the practice into a self-serving operation. Although it is most famously known for the numerous sterilizations that took place, the scope of eugenics extends much farther than a physical change, the emotional side of private lives was also affected by the control exercised by numerous governments. The beginnings of eugenics sought to pass on the best traits possible to the next generation, however it was adapted in order to aid and abet the racist opinions held by those in power. Although the use of eugenics has diminished over time, the practice forever tainted many people’s views of their fellow human being.
Ultimately, the practice of eugenics has perpetuated racism throughout history and provided a scapegoat of sorts, for people to avoid “undesirable traits”. Although the practice is not currently practiced other areas of concern include: the human genome project and prenatal screening. These methods are presently the most noble of causes, in search of the genes responsible for harmful diseases and the determination of a fetus’ issues after birth, respectively. However, the science could be eventually exploited, just as eugenics, has in order to avoid differences and maintain “superiority” in modern society.