N Carolina listens to victums of its Sterilization/Eugenics laws

[Racket_Man]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...20073457.shtml

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/201...stable-people/

OK I am going to invoke Godwins law right off the bat. YUP the US in the 1910s 20s and 30s WAS no better than the Nazi's. IN FACT they (the Nazi's) got their ideas from us (the US).

but then 34 other states also had similar laws on the books up until the mid 1970's.

[KellyHabersham]

I definitely don't agree with these laws, but on the other hand.......I can think of a few people who (and this is only my opinion) should never have been allowed to have children.

[Hyena Dandy]

I wouldn't say AS bad as the Nazis, but yes, they weren't that much better.

As for getting their ideas from us, I'd like to know where you heard that. Because if you're referring to eugenics, then I know that was going on around the western world at the time, not just here.

However, the laws in question were bad, and reparations should be made.

[Nyoibo]

Eugenics was considered fairly acceptable in the western world before WW2, it was only after, when the Nazis were the bad guys that Eugenics became a taboo thing.

[Sleepwalker]

Really? Forced sterilization= Genocide and a world war? /sigh

[Nyoibo]

It's not just forced sterilization, both the US and the UK (not so sure about Australia) Practiced eugenics, not just through forced sterilization, eugenics in itself isn't such a bad thing, there are a fair few things I agree with myself, but since its association with the bad guys it's become taboo.

Yes, the US also considered and in some cases implemented eugenicide, although in round about ways.

[BlaqueKatt]

eugenics in itself isn't such a bad thing, there are a fair few things I agree with myself

Um it's pseudoscience, which is most definitely a bad thing.....

Since defining what improvements are desired or beneficial is perceived by many as a cultural choice rather than a matter that can be determined objectively (e.g., by empirical, scientific inquiry), eugenics has often been deemed a pseudoscience. The most disputed aspect of eugenics has been the definition of "improvement" of the human gene pool, such as what is a beneficial characteristic and what is a defect. This aspect of eugenics has historically been tainted with scientific racism. However, there are several problems with labeling certain factors as genetic defects. In many cases there is no scientific consensus on what a genetic defect is. It is often argued that this is more a matter of social or individual choice. What appears to be a genetic defect in one context or environment may not be so in another. This can be the case for genes with a heterozygote advantage, such as sickle-cell disease or Tay-Sachs disease, which in their heterozygote form may offer an advantage against, respectively, malaria and tuberculosis.