Eugenics: An Excuse To Be A Racist Or A Means To A Better Tomorrow? :: essays research papers

Eugenics: An Excuse to be a Racist or a Means to a Better Tomorrow? 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: What nature does blindly, slowly, and ruthlessly, man may do providently, quickly, and kindly. As it lies within his power, so it becomes his duty to work in that direction. They sought to establish this by discouraging marriages that were unfavorable in terms of eugenics by attaching to them the stigmas associated with marriage between cousins. Margaret Sanger, the pioneer of the movement for birth control, came from a family that would have been viewed by Galton to be unsuitable for reproduction according to eugenics. She was the sixth of eleven children born into her poor Irish family. She felt that women's reproductive freedom was essential. She coined the term voluntary motherhood and opened the first birth control clinic in the country in Brooklyn in 1916. Like many others who supported the birth control movement, she also supported the idea of eugenics trusting that the "human race could be improved through 'controlled breeding'." Sanger felt that all the problems of society were centered around uncontrolled breeding. She decided that women had the right to know about methods of contraception and about the workings of their own bodies. Her views are best summarized by her statement regarding women's reproductive freedom: The basic freedom of the world is woman's freedom . . .. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother." Angela Davis felt that birth control was not only advantageous to minority and lower-class women, but to women of "all classes and races." She did not however think that fewer children would help the plight of the human race and "could create more jobs, higher wages, better schools, etc., etc." She felt that if women were not troubled by several childbirths and miscarriages that they could pursue other avenues of life outside of the constraints of marriage and motherhood.