I was completely surprised at the attitudes presented in the article, "Killing the Black Body." It seemed as though the beliefs about eugenics were mainly based on generalized assumptions of racial and gender-related superiority. It was sickening to read the ideas that many of these "scientists" and other supposed intellectuals had, and how they used science to objectively back up their claims. The Carrie Buck story reminded me of the Salem witch trials--the persecution of women in the name of religion. One line in the reading summed up the driving force behind eugenics: "eugenic sterilization enforced social judgments cloaked in scientific terms."
The issue of Black sterilization seems to be caught between two viewpoints: fear of Black extermination and eradication of white supremacy, as the article mentioned at the end. The sterilization argument, like eugenics, is rooted in social attitudes and injustices. Still, the issue is even more complex than that. Roberts did a good job at providing arguments and counterarguments to the topics she brought up, eventually coming to the conclusion that the motivation behind the sterilization of minorities is really a oppressive tool.
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I also found the Carrie Buck story very upsetting. I think that it is ridiculous that a woman who is characterized as feebleminded is forced to be sterilized. Feebleminded as defined by the merriam-webster dictionary means foolish, stupid, or mentally deficient. All of these definitions are used casually these days, as you may joke to your sibling about how dumb they are. I find it incredibly hard to imagine how if someone is seen to be less intelligent that the government condones sterilization. It is not as if the person is mentally handicapped (which would still not be an excuse)...but that a person is just seen to be an airhead. Overall I found this ruling made by the supreme court to be outrageous.
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