This is a Nazi propaganda poster from 1936.

The shield the man is holding states the name of a Nazi Law in on July 14, 1933. The name translates into "Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring".

That law was one of the first to be passed in Germany under the reign of the Nazi Party. The law dealt with preventing 'undesirable' people from reproducing- the first step in Hitler's "Master Race" program. The master race program is the most notorious "negative" eugenics program- eugenics being the concept/pseudo-science of taking the evolution of human kind into our own hands through certain methods (i.e. selective breeding, genetice engineering, amongst other things).

The top is translated into "We Do Not Stand Alone".

When I read the translation something caught my eye: the first flag I saw on that poster was an American flag. So I investigated.

This is what I found out:

America was, supposedly, the first nation to enact what are called "cumpulsory sterilization" laws for the purpose of eugenics- another term for preventing 'undesirable' people from reproducing. You know, the "hereditarily diseased". Cumpulsory sterilization has been around for millenia, but only typically found in the case of eunuchs, not for the purpose of "advancing" or "purifying" humanity.

There was never a federal sterilization law, only state sterilization laws. However, the federal supreme court did rule in the case Buck v. Bell that forced sterilization is legitimate, but only if it was for eugenic purposes. If it was for for punishment, the supreme court rules, then it was unconstitutional. So let me get this straight- forcing someone to be sterilized, possibly through castration, was perfectly legal only if the person being sterilized did not control the reason they were being sterilized (such as retardation) but it was completely illegal to force sterilization if the person to be sterilized had complete control over the reason why they were to be sterilized (such as a heinous crime- rape or sexual abuse seem most appropriate).

Pennsylvania was the first state to adpot forced sterilization laws. Pennsylvania- you know, that place, up there, where those guys signed that paper that said "all men are created equal"? Yeah thats the one. You wanna know whats also nuts? The southern states, you know, the ones with the guys in the ghost costumes who like to burn crosses and hang people and release dogs and high-powered fire hoses on peaceful people marching for their rights? They never enacted cumpulsory sterilization laws. I can only think of a few reasons why, one being that stupid rednecks don't acknowledge evolution, thus eugenic sterlization is pointless.

California had the most extensive cumpulsory sterilization program however. California was responsible for about a third of the sterilizations performed in the United States. In fact, they were so proud of their program they published a book detailing everything about it. And you know what? Adolf Hitler cited that book as evidence that a large sterilization (and eventually, master race) program was feasible. In other words, if it wasn't for the "advances" California made in the field of eugenics programs, Hitler would have been less sure of the possibility that his ideas would work.

Now Hitler only used his culmpulsory sterilization program for people who he thought still had some value in society. Others, such as the mentally retarded, were entered in to the T-4 Euthenasia Program, where they slaughtered them. Or the Jews, who were forced into camps only to eventually be massacred as well.

The States only forced the mentally retarded, the mentally ill, the deaf, the blind, the epileptic, orphans, the homeless, criminals, and homosexuals to be sterilized (though that last one, albeit immoral, probably didn't do too much). So obviously that makes it better, right? Right? No.

After the war the popularity of eugenics died down for obvious reasons. Of course, that didn't stop some states, including Oregon, which performed its last forced sterilization in the 80's.

Well there you have it, a disgusting piece of US History that my teacher failed to teach in our class, that our curricula fails to include. It is disgusting. That ends our lesson for today.