Every day I see news about groups of animals being eliminated because they are inconvenient. I find this disturbing on so many levels because it wasn’t that long ago that America was engaging in Eugenics, or genetic cleansing, on humans.
When I hear this flawed logic, I think of my two Pit Bulls who were both were rescues. I am a country girl who loves all animals but at first I was a little hesitant to take these dogs in because of the bad media. However, after speaking with my Veterinarian I gained a true understanding of the breed and adopted them. These dogs have been with me for five years and they are so loyal, and so gentle, that I am amazed that anyone would hesitate to take one into their family. When talking with other Pit Bull owners, I receive the same feedback. This is an absolutely wonderful breed. After adopting the first Pit Bull, I did some additional research on the breed and discovered that Pit Bulls are the only dog specifically bred not to attack man. In the late 1800’s they were used as ‘Nanny Dogs’ to guard small children because this breed has a level of intelligence and a sense of loyalty to their family that is superior to any other breed and because of these qualities Pit Bulls were used by the military. The problem with Pit Bulls is not with the breed. The blame lies on the shoulders of unethical and cruel owners who take advantage of the very quality that makes this breed such a great family dog. They manipulate their strength, tenacity, and loyalty to fight these dogs to the death. A Pit Bull will go into the ring and watch as the owner cheers him on from the edge. As long as this dog sees his owner is pleased with its actions, the dog will sacrifice its own life. Yet, states do not regulate the owners because it is more convenient to exterminate the breed.
In the late 1800’s a theory by Sir Francis Galton gained support by those in the upper income brackets. His theory said that people with certain traits were inconvenient to society and these inconvenient traits were inherited through a flawed bloodline passed down from the parents. This was not only about race. It was theorized that people with lower incomes and lower educations were in that lower social class because of a lower intellect that was inherited from a defective bloodline. A list of negative traits was developed, laws were passed, and people were forced to be sterilized to prevent breeding of inferior people. This continued until after WWII and some states continued the practice until 1972. Some of the qualities that qualified one for forced sterilization was having low income, promiscuity, lower social status, lower education, imperfect physical traits, poor health, homosexuality, and feeblemindedness. It was believed that certain behavioral qualities were inherited from your parents, such as selfishness, jealousy, arrogance, suspiciousness, high temperedness, cruelty, and alcoholism, and could be genetically cleansed as well as some physical traits ranging from something as simple as dyslexia to something as complex as paralysis.
I found an article from Lutz Keebler, Associate professor at University of Vermont. He writes:
American eugenics refers inter alia to compulsory sterilization laws adopted by over 30 states that led to more than 60,000 sterilizations of disabled individuals. Many of these individuals were sterilized because of a disability: they were mentally disabled or ill, or belonged to socially disadvantaged groups living on the margins of society. American eugenic laws and practices implemented in the first decades of the twentieth century influenced the much larger National Socialist compulsory sterilization program, which between 1934 and 1945 led to approximately 350,000 compulsory sterilizations and was a stepping stone to the Holocaust. Even after the details of the Nazi sterilization program (as well as its role as a precursor to the "Euthanasia" murders) became more widely known after World War II (and which the New York Times had reported on extensively and in great detail even before its implementation in 1934), sterilizations in some American states did not stop. Some states continued to sterilize residents well into the 1970s.
While Germany has taken important steps to commemorate the horrors of its past, including compulsory sterilization (however belatedly), the United States arguably has not when it comes to eugenics.
What amazes me is that American history books criticize the Eugenics programs implemented by the Germans, which eventually led to Hitler’s attempt to purge the world of Jews, yet allude to the fact that Americans were pure. What is not in the history books is that Germany modeled their eugenics program after a Eugenics program which was already firmly established in the United States. In fact, in 1907 it was the state of Indiana that passed the first eugenics based compulsory sterilization law ......in the world. German officers prepared a defense of their actions that relied heavily on the Eugenics programs used in the United States. They tried to justify their actions by stating they were only implementing the American philosophy of genetic cleansing. Therefore, America had given implied consent based on its own actions. It didn’t work and they were found guilty.
I think it is important to point out that, unlike Hitler, we didn’t murder thousands of people. America just played God and decided who could procreate and who couldn’t. However, it was America who opened the door to Germany’s version of genetic cleansing which, in the hands of someone who lacked compassion or ethics, moved it to the next level. The Holocaust, Eugenics, Slavery, cruelty in any form, or extermination of any single species, animal or human, based on a theory that they are not pure or inconvenient to deal with demonstrates the arrogance and selfishness in humanity which, ironically, are the very traits that the original Eugenics project was attempting to eliminate.
Wikipedia's definitionof Eugenics: Today it is widely regarded as a brutal movement which inflicted massive human rights violations on millions of people. The "interventions" advocated and practiced by eugenicists involved prominently the identification and classification of individuals and their families, including the poor, mentally ill, blind, deaf, developmentally disabled, promiscuous women, homosexuals and entire racial groups — such as the Roma and Jews — as "degenerate" or "unfit"; the segregation or institutionalization of such individuals and groups, their sterilization, euthanasia, and in the extreme case of Nazi Germany, their mass extermination.
This is the dark side of humanity in America but what is concerning is that it continues to lurk in the Shadows. America’s shameful past was never taught in my history class but we should be teaching this, along with the Holocaust, and our part in the slave trade to raise awareness. If America fails to acknowledge its mistakes and bring light into the darkenss without trying to hide or justify the wrongdoing, should we assume that America feels no shame or that these trangressions against humanity are not worth trying to prevent a repeat sometime in the future? What exactly is being done to prevent this from happening again? Hopefully, America hides behind a veil of shame and not one of deception. We should shine the light of truth into that dark corner and let humanity learn from past mistakes. In the process, we could be teaching a respect for life to America's youth and are our future leaders.
No one person or group should ever have control over what species should live and what species should die. No single species is superior to the next. Life is a delicate balance that is comprised of many forms, not just the human form.
Eugenics was the racist pseudoscience determined to wipe away all human beings deemed "unfit," preserving only those who conformed to a Nordic stereotype. Elements of the philosophy were enshrined as national policy by forced sterilization and segregation laws, as well as marriage restrictions, enacted in twenty-seven states. In 1909, California became the third state to adopt such laws. Ultimately, eugenics practitioners coercively sterilized some 60,000 Americans, barred the marriage of thousands, forcibly segregated thousands in "colonies," and persecuted untold numbers in ways we are just learning. Before World War II, nearly half of coercive sterilizations were done in California, and even after the war, the state accounted for a third of all such surgeries
“War against the Weak; Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race.”
Edwin Black
Our Universe operates like a well-timed machine and one part is as important as the next. Past mistakes should have taught us that eliminating one species upsets the balance of nature. It doesn’t matter if that species is animal or human. Yet, it seems that we consistently fail to learn from our mistakes as we continue to wipe out species of animals, or try to influence an image of perfection that is unattainable while encouraging people to go to great lengths to achieve that image, and later spend a great deal of money and time trying to revive what was lost when we realize that the world is out of balance. The solution is simple. Respect the differences and respect life in all forms. If we don’t, we may be offering our own form of implied consent.
There have been times when I am lovingly referred to as a ‘tree hugger’ but I am not offended. The truth is that my stance isn’t as much about hugging trees as acknowledging the fact that we humans are guests on this earth so we should be respecting mother earth and those we share it with. Each of us only has a limited time here. Our actions will have an impact on everything, and everyone, who shares this planet with us both now and in the future. If you doubt this, remember the impact of The Love Canal. The unfortunate consequences of the contamination at that site became a pivotal point which defined the EPA as we know it today. Yet, today I still see things that indicate we haven’t learned our lesson. The rise in cancer rates vs the increased contamination in our environment as large corporations still find ways to buy their way around the laws is a more obvious example. but the reason Environmental laws were established to protect the population in the first place is because some people refused to sit idle and simply tolerate what was happening.
"We get what we tolerate"
Joel Osteen
It is important to wake up, speak up, and take a stand. If people tolerate cruelty, or sit idle as others justify eliminating life because it doesn’t fit in with our ideal then we have no excuse. We end up becoming a participant. Shame on us if that happens.
Take a stand. Speak out. Respect life.
Kühl, Stefan. The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism
Susan Currell (2006). Popular eugenics: national efficiency and American mass culture in the 1930s
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