Eugenics and Forced Sterilization
Clarence Gamble and James Hanes were founding members of the Human Betterment League of North Carolina in 1947. The League was tied to forced sterilization programs that saw both men and women, mostly poor, of low IQ, and predominantly minority extraction, undergo surgical sterilization without consent, with the goal being to reduce the state's welfare burden and improve the gene pool. The program ended in 1977; the state government apologized publicly in 2002. Governor Bev Perdue is advocating for financial restitution to be made to 7,600 victims.
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Famous quotes containing the word forced:
“Another danger is imminent: A contested result. And we have no such means for its decision as ought to be provided by law. This must be attended to hereafter.... If a contest comes now it may lead to a conflict of arms. I can only try to do my duty to my countrymen in that case. I shall let no personal ambition turn me from the path of duty. Bloodshed and civil war must be averted if possible. If forced to fight, I have no fears from lack of courage or firmness.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)