As a new widow, Sara Rojas García was already struggling to support her nine children when her oldest daughter was taken in by the local authorities.
Andrea Garcia was accused of skipping school and sexually assaulting her, so authorities responsible for juvenile delinquents sent her to a public hospital.
After Taking An IQ Test And Giving a Low Score
The doctors gave their verdict. He told Sarah that her 19-year-old daughter would be sterilized so that the state would see her as mentally retarded.
This horror story may sound like the story of a dictatorial regime. But actually, it happened in 1938 in Southern California. And Andrea Garcia was one of thousands of poor women targeted by the state's relentless campaign of eugenics.
Since Ancient Greece
Attempts have been made to control human populations through reproduction, maintaining some traits and removing others.
But in the 19th century, the discovery of evolution and genetics inspired a new scientific movement dedicated to this endeavour. In 1883, British scientist Sir Francis Galton coined the name eugenics, from the Greek word for "to be born well."
This wave of modern eugenicists included prominent scientists and progressive reformers who believed that they could improve society only by ensuring the elimination of desirable traits.
However, they defined what traits were and were not desirable. All categories of people were considered "unfit" to reproduce, including immigrants, people of color and people with disabilities.
Meanwhile, Their Ideal Genetic Quality Reflects That of Movement Members
White Europeans of Nordic or Anglo-Saxon descent. As the influence of eugenics spread in the early 20th century, many countries banned immigration and outlawed interracial unions.
In Nazi Germany, these measures to improve so-called "racial hygiene" were brought to their grisly end. The Nazi eugenics campaign systematically killed millions of Jews, as well as members of other groups, including Roma, homosexuals, and the disabled.
However, beyond their extreme brutality, Nazi eugenic policies reflected similar standards throughout the world. In the mid-20th century, many countries implemented eugenics policies, and the governments of Sweden, Canada, and Japan forcibly sterilized thousands of people.
Sterilization Was Extraordinarily Common In America
From 1907 to 1979, U.S. policies enforced the sterilization of more than 60,000 people, with 32 states passing laws deeming men and women "mentally defective."
This label was typically applied based on superficial mental health assessments and IQ test results, which were linguistically and culturally biased against the majority immigrant population.
These racist standards were particularly problematic in California. From 1920 to 1945, Latina women were 59 percent more likely to be infertile than other women.
And California had an incredibly high sterilization rate—that single state performed more than a third of the nation's sterilizations. Such was the case of Andrea Garcia, whose story mirrors that of thousands.
With the help of noted civil rights attorney David Marks, Andrea's mother argued that California's sterilization law violated the U.S.
Constitution, Denying Andrea Her Rights To Equal Protection Under The Law
However, while one of the three judges overseeing the case voted to spare Andrea, the other two did not.
The record shows that it is possible that Andrea survived the upcoming surgery, but many victims of these policies did not.
Although eugenics gained negative connotations after the horrors of World War II, many of its practices, including sterilization, persisted for decades.
By the late 1960s, research on human genetics was more important, and bioethics began to eclipse the influence of eugenics.
Despite this, Sweden and the United States continued to practice involuntary sterilization until the 1970s.
Eventually, class-action lawsuits and protest marches among U.S. lawmakers, and California's sterilization laws were finally repealed in 1979. Unfortunately, legal and illegal sterilization of many oppressed communities around the world continues today.
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