[#NeuroRacism | Eugenics 🧵]
What we hope to show today is that there are real consequences to this racist way of pursuing science. This is more than just an academic debate.
There is, perhaps, no better example than the eugenics movements of the 20th century.
What we hope to show today is that there are real consequences to this racist way of pursuing science. This is more than just an academic debate.
There is, perhaps, no better example than the eugenics movements of the 20th century.
Controlling human reproduction for some "greater good" is nothing new. Plato and other ancient Greeks advocated for it.
It was in just 1883 that Francis Galton, who coined the term, consolidated these thoughts with a Darwinistic notion of humans "winning" natural selection.
It was in just 1883 that Francis Galton, who coined the term, consolidated these thoughts with a Darwinistic notion of humans "winning" natural selection.
Those ideas didn't go unnoticed, and it is easy to forget how widespread (and legal) they were. International conferences, official policies in multiple countries, support from hundreds of influential people.
Unlike phrenology, this wasn't a short-lived idea - this was the norm.
Unlike phrenology, this wasn't a short-lived idea - this was the norm.
Here, once again, we have to confront the complexity of #NeuroRacism.
One proponent of the early eugenic movement was none other than civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois.
He believed that "only fit blacks should procreate to eradicate the race's heritage of moral iniquity."
One proponent of the early eugenic movement was none other than civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois.
He believed that "only fit blacks should procreate to eradicate the race's heritage of moral iniquity."
t's in the US that we see the first instances of this “scientific” concept being actualized: Better Baby contests, anti-miscegenation and anti-immigration laws, and forced sterilizations.
All of which, to some extent, inspired the 1935 Nuremberg Laws implemented in Nazi Germany.
All of which, to some extent, inspired the 1935 Nuremberg Laws implemented in Nazi Germany.
It is impossible to quantify the horror that eugenics caused. Genocide after genocide in Africa was justified by it. In the US, hundreds of thousands of women, mostly poor Black women, were forcibly sterilized.
This was copied in dozens of countries, even before any world war.
This was copied in dozens of countries, even before any world war.
After WW2, there was an effort to disassociate these movements from nazism, but of course, it is naive to think that these ideas would just disappear.
1957, the 🇬🇧 Eugenics Society: "[we] should pursue eugenic ends by less obvious means, that is by a policy of crypto-eugenics."
1957, the 🇬🇧 Eugenics Society: "[we] should pursue eugenic ends by less obvious means, that is by a policy of crypto-eugenics."
Under quirky notions of "designer babies", unethical CRISPR experiments, and a rise in explicit white supremacy, eugenic ideas persist.
How has eugenics seeped into your neuro subfield?
Comment below with #NeuroRacism
How has eugenics seeped into your neuro subfield?
Comment below with #NeuroRacism
