health services, state power, and social control
the first of many in a coming seriesEllipsis from original:
In 1937, North Carolina became the first state to sanction the provision of contraceptives with tax dollars; it was soon followed by six other southern states. Fear of black population growth during the hard times of the Depression encouraged the move toward state-supported birth control. As an official in North Carolina explained, "on one occasion a health officer didn't think his county needed contraception... When he discovered that the Negroes were accounting for 85 percent of the births, he quickly changed his mind."-- John D'Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman, Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997), pg. 247
More, in more detailed posts, to follow.
posted by Chris Bray @ 2:18 PM
1 Comments:
The racism inherent in the pre-WWII eugenics movements is pretty well documented -- though non-historians might not know about it. Sanger herself was a pretty vicious elitist.
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