Brantford Public Library's Online Book Club discussion

We learn about the use of the Eugenics program in North Carolina. Were you aware of this practice prior to reading this book?



Charlotte gives Jane a lot of reasons for why the Eugenics Sterilization program is a good thing for both individuals and society. Do you think most people of that time period really believed in that program? Has society really changed that much in 60 years?

It's possible the Social Workers believed they were making the lives of the individuals easier, they could be brainwashed and certainly to keep their job had to suggest candidates for the program to keep their job. Puts one in mind of police and their speeding ticket quota, only on a much more serious note. I think the affluent segment of society would agree with the program, not wanting to support "unemployable" or mentally challenged people. I don't think society has changed that much; there still are too many people that are racist, judge people on the number of cars in the driveway, where they live etc. I think there are people out there still wishing there was such a program that could be enforced.

When I think of Eugenics, I think of Hitler. I had no idea that some form of Eugenics was ever practiced in America, or anywhere else. This was an eye opener for me. Karen I believe you are right when you say that the social workers probably believed they were doing the right thing. And for some people, it may have been the right thing. I think we saw an example of that in the book when the one character (Lita Jordan perhaps - I can't remember for sure) actually wanted the operation as a form of birth control. In this case, I think it was probably a virtuous thing. The ugly side of this is when they were sterilizing young girls without their consent or knowledge. That was disturbing. I think our modern society is built far more on the rites of the individual, even if it is at the expense of society but I think it used to be the other way around.

Certainly over the years I've heard of stories where sterilization was discussed to deal with those people who society deems not fit or suited to raising children. However, I had never heard about the practice as described in the book.
I'm sure that at some level the social workers of the time were convinced that they were doing the right thing. Obviously, they weren't putting themselves in the shoes of these clients. If they had done so they might have looked at the practice in a different way.
At some level, though, they must have known that this wasn't completely acceptable as it wasn't widely known that this was the practice.

I've looked on Brantford Public Library's website, under the Ebscohost research database--from1928-1972 approx. 2800 people in Alberta were sterilized, looks like mostly women. I didn't go through all the article listings but it does make one wonder how many people were sterilized in a Ontario.

Karen wrote: "I've looked on Brantford Public Library's website, under the Ebscohost research database--from1928-1972 approx. 2800 people were sterilized, looks like mostly women. I didn't go through all the art..."

That's incredible Karen. Thanks for sharing that.

You have to know that if it happened in a jurisdiction like Alberta and North Carolina it undoubtedly happened in other places as well. However, it is hard to believe that this could happen in your own backyard.