You are hearing from me later than usual because I wanted to share an interview about research conducted with Gregory Price (University of New Orleans) and William (Sandy) Darity (Duke University) about the state of North Carolina’s sterilization law, which operated from 1928 until 1977. North Carolina’s sterilization law was unique in that it allowed local welfare officials to submit sterilization petitions for their clients.
Our study, “Did North Carolina Economically Breed-Out Blacks During its Historical Eugenic Sterilization Campaign,” finds that North Carolina’s distaste for “surplus population,” residents at the lowest level of society who are outside of the labor force and more likely to receive public assistance, was more pronounced for black residents. Specifically, eugenic sterilization increased significantly with the size of a county’s surplus Black population. A county’s white surplus population share is never significant. Increases in the surplus populations for Indigenous Americans led to an increase in institutional sterilizations. For other racial groups, an increase in their surplus population share has a negative and significant effect on the number of institutional sterilizations.
The implementation of North Carolina’s sterilization law suggests a presumption of genetic inferiority for Black residents.
Our research is a reminder that controlling Black bodies and their reproductive choices is nothing new—it’s only the methods that have changed. Instead of the slave owner dictating when slaves had children, states like North Carolina restricted reproductive freedom, using eugenics to disenfranchise Black residents.”
The publication of our research comes at a time when conversations about essential vs. expendable workers are heavy on many people’s minds. It is evidence of a history of treating vulnerable populations as expendable.
As school districts and institutions of higher education roll out plans for the upcoming school year, rethinking how we define essential operations and services and allowing workers to transfer their skills to support these essential operations is crucial. For example, Richmond (VA) Public Schools (RPS) Superintendent Jason Kamras has promised no layoffs. Kamras said that bus drivers would deliver meals prepared by cafeteria workers to students instead of delivering students to schools. Kamras stressed that all RPS staff have a role in providing education and related services to district students during the pandemic.
However, some critical services don’t lend themselves to remote learning. For example, teachers’ assistants (aides) are instrumental in the function of their classrooms. Finding and utilizing technology to allow for this support will be challenging. The same applies to non-teaching services such as helping with students’ behavioral or physical needs, grading papers, and proctoring exams. Students, in many cases, will not receive the support they are accustomed to, and support staff providing these in-person services may have difficulty effectively shifting their skills to a remote learning environment.
The Kewanee Community Unified School District will reopen utilizing a hybrid instruction model. Parents can choose a scaled-back in-person option or enroll their children in remote-only schooling. Teachers’ aides will monitor students receiving instruction online to ensure their questions are being answered.
As conversations about school reopening intensify over the next few weeks, we encourage scrutiny of plans to ensure that the services and school staff are seen as essential.
Rhonda V. Sharpe is the president of the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race.
