The Eugenics Movement - 1101 Words

Episode 1 At the beginning of the 20th century, power and prestige was held by the majority of (if not only) White people. African Americans were living under Jim Crow laws, Native Americans were forced into reservations and all of the new immigrants were in crowded ghettos. Those that were a race other than White were at â€Å"the bottom of the social and political hierarchy.† One of the aims of the Eugenics Movement was racial purification. Using the concept of Mendelian genes, scientists would try to breed the best, smartest, most talented, most beautiful and always white individuals and breed out the worst and weakest colored individuals. Mixed race people were seen as not put together because it was a combination of the best and worst traits someone could have.† Frederick Hoffman, presented data, statistics and a theory that claimed African Americans would become extinct because of high death and disease rates that were caused by African Americans being biologically lesser than Whites. However, his analysis was flawed because it failed to mention how systematic poverty and social neglect could be affecting the health of African Americans. Biological scientists believe our racial classification system is inherently flawed because genetically we are the most similar of all species. The film says that if we compare 2 identical penguins, there is twice the amount of genetic difference than you would see compared to looking at the DNA of a black man and a white man. EvenShow MoreRelatedEugenics And The Eugenics Movement2789 Words   |  12 PagesMichael Olson 951-36-5231 PS 308 PS 308 Essay Eugenics has always been given such a notoriously bad connotation, and rightfully so. Eugenics is essentially the belief in controlling the human population by means of improving the gene pool through different processes, and increasing the likelihood of traits which are generally more desirable to the whole of the species. Now that probably sounds familiar, doesn t it? People commonly connect the eugenics movement with the Aryan belief that Hitler infamouslyRead MoreEugenics And The Eugenics Movement1559 Words   |  7 Pagespaved with good intentions; this clichà © quintessentially describes the eugenics movement. Eugenics is the controlled reproduction of individuals; the main focus of eugenics is to isolate â€Å"good† genes from â€Å"bad† genes (Dolan DNA Learning Center). The main goal of Eugenics is to create a higher quality human race (Dolan DNA Learning Center). This movement became the center of which the twentieth century orbited around. The movement swa yed numerous significant policies, which were implemented within theRead MoreEugenics And The Eugenics Movement1530 Words   |  7 Pagesthat was paved with good intentions†; this clichà © quintessentially describes the eugenics movement. Eugenics is the controlled reproduction of individuals; the main focus is to isolate â€Å"good† genes from â€Å"bad† genes (Dolan DNA Learning Center). The primary goal of Eugenics is to create a higher quality human race and became the center of which the twentieth century orbited around (Dolan DNA Learning Center). The movement swayed numerous significant policies, which were implemented within the UnitedRead MoreEugenics And The Eugenics Movement1512 Words   |  7 PagesEugenics is the pseudoscience of obtaining desired traits in a population through controlled repopulation, specifically by preventing those deemed â€Å"unfit† by â€Å"Nordic stereotypes† from breeding. Most modern day Americans do not rea lize the origins of eugenics, which was planted by Charles Darwin and Sir Francis Galton and bloomed in America, and what effect it had on the attempt to create a master race in Nazi Germany. America played a very influential role in German eugenics by collaboration betweenRead MoreEugenics And The Eugenics Movement3686 Words   |  15 Pagesshould come as no surprise that eugenics follows this same guideline in human history. A term originally coined by Francis Galton, first cousin to Charles Darwin, eugenics simply means that the â€Å"best people† in society with the most â€Å"healthy† â€Å"normal† genes should continue to reproduce and pass on their â€Å"goodness† to the next generation, while the individuals with the â€Å"unhealthy† genes should be discouraged from having any children (Allen 2001:59). With movements beginning in the early 20th centuryRead MoreThe Eugenics Movement Essay1541 Words   |  7 Pagesstarted a movement known a s â€Å"The Eugenics Movement.† The idea of eugenics was eventually picked up by Germany, China, Peru, India and Bangladesh. The movement is still in effect till this day; however, it is not as prevalent as it once was. The beginning of the Eugenics Movement all started at Cold Spring Harbor, New York. The United States coined the term Eugenics from Great Britain in the early 1900s. In the year 1910, a man by the name of Charles B. Davenport founded the Eugenics Records OfficeRead MoreThe Holocaust And The Eugenics Movement2285 Words   |  10 Pagesbeen decreased 90 percent due to genocide, diseases, etc.) ? Did you know that there was a sterilization movement in the United States that found success in getting their laws passed in state legislation? These less well-known facts are quite similar to actions carried out by the Nazis, such as the holocaust and the sterilization movement that took place in Germany during the 1930’s. Nazi Eugenics and racism was not a unique instance but rather part of a larger global trend of justifying racism throughRead MoreThe Science Of Eugenics Movement1423 Words   |  6 PagesThe science of eugenics was widely used during the 20th century in the United States to strategically eliminate the reproductive rights of women who were deemed inferior on the social ladder (â€Å"What is Eugenics?†). Some women of color, women with disabilities, and women from lower financial classes were sterilized for permanent birth control, and sometimes without their consent or knowledge (â€Å"What is Eugenics?†). The eugenics movement was aimed to promote selective human features in order to increaseRead MoreRace And The Eugenics Movement987 Words   |  4 PagesRace matters! Race has been probably the most dominating factor beneath the eugenics movement and the pseudo scientific experiments the Europeans physicians and scientists conducted on people of African origin and other races since the 18th century. The foundation for these studies can be associated with ancient Greece, the roots of today’s western values of knowledge, civilized, and democracy which are considered to be the basis for human development. Similarly to today ’s Europeans, Ancient EuropeansRead MoreEugenics And The Social Movement1770 Words   |  8 PagesEugenics is defined as the social movement that claims to improve the genetic features of human populations through selective breeding and sterilization, The word Eugenics is basically selective breeding and it is a Greek word for good birth which was made in the late 1800 s by Francis Galton, who is related to the survival of the fittest scientist Charles Darwin. Galton s number one goal was that each generation contain the best people possible. His main fear was that the higher-class people