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The Eugenics Board of North Carolina (EBNC) was a State Board of the U.S. state of North Carolina formed in July 1933 by the North Carolina State Legislature by the passage of House Bill 1013, entitled "An Act to Amend Chapter 34 of the Public Laws of 1929 of North Carolina Relating to the Sterilization of Persons Mentally Defective".[1] This Bill formally repealed a 1929 law,[2] which had been ruled as unconstitutional by the North Carolina Supreme Court earlier in the year.
Over time, the Board shifted their focus to include sterilizations. Their original purpose was to oversee the practice of sterilization as it pertained to inmates or patients of public-funded institutions that were judged to be 'mentally defective or feeble-minded' by authorities. The majority of these sterilizations were coerced. Academic sources have observed that this was not only an ableist and classist project but also a racist one, as Black people were disproportionately targeted.[3] Of the 7,686 people who were sterilized in North Carolina after 1933, 5,000 were Black. American Civil Liberties Union attorney Brenda Feign Fasteau said of the situation, "As far as I can determine, the statistics reveal that since 1964, approximately 65 percent of the women sterilized in North Carolina were Black and approximately 35 percent were White."[4]
In contrast to other eugenics programs across the United States, the North Carolina Board enabled county departments of public welfare to petition for the sterilization of their clients.[5] The Board remained in operation until 1977. During its existence thousands of individuals were sterilized. In 1977 the N.C. General Assembly repealed the laws authorizing its existence,[6] though it would not be until 2003 that the involuntary sterilization laws that underpinned the Board's operations were repealed.[7]
Today the Board's work is repudiated by people across the political, scientific and private spectrum.[citation needed] In 2013, North Carolina passed legislation to compensate those sterilized under the Board's jurisdiction.[8][9]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
1933Sessionwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
1929Sessionwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Did North Carolina Economically Breed-Out Blacks During its Historical Eugenic Sterilization Campaign? – American Review Of Political Economy". Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ Lewis, Reina; Mills, Sara (2003). Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. Routledge. ISBN 9780415942744.
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betweenchoicewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
1977Sessionwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
2003Sessionwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
taskforcerecommendswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Eugenics Asexualization and Sterilization Compensation Program, N.C.G.S. § 143B-426.50". General Assembly of North Carolina.