General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A History of Liberal White Racism [View all]loyalsister
(13,390 posts)It shows the origins of forced sterilization and marriage restrictions. It started as an agenda to prevent genetic transmission of loosely defined disabilities, and was expanded to include people of color and immigrants.
Progressives were aligned with conservatives in those goals. There were progressives who wanted to prevent suffering by working with conservatives who were pursuing the "Nordic Superior Race."
They felt that the condition of being undesirable was so terrible that it should be prevented. The conservatives saw them as a burden to the public....
"We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call upon the best citizens for their lives. It would be strange if it could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the State for these lesser sacrifices, often not felt to be such by those concerned, to prevent our being swamped with incompetence. It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. [...] Three generations of imbeciles are enough." - Oliver Wendall Holmes