Eugenics refers to the now discredited “science” of improving humanity through selective reproduction based on “breeding out” undesirable traits often based on “intelligence” and “race.” This pseudo-science is most often associated with the horrific atrocities of the Nazi regime that sought to produce a “superior” Aryan race while eliminating supposedly “inferior” races. What is less well known is that the Nazis based much of their obsession with racial superiority on the well established practice of eugenics in the United States. By 1924 this led to Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act that officially criminalized interracial marriage on the basis of eugenics.
While eugenics is now recognized as the fraud it always was, its legacy continues in our time. We know that what we have come to call “race” is a social construct that has no basis in biology. However, it is still widely believed that some characteristics associated with racial groups have a “scientific” basis. A recent example of this comes from the National Football League. In 2017, the NFL reached a settlement with the players association for compensation related to the long term impacts of concussions. While some players received compensation, many claims submitted by Black players were denied based in large part on the practice of “race norming” that was an official part of the protocol for determining whether or not a claim was accepted or denied. This contemporary form of eugenics included the assumption that the base line for cognitive abilities of Black players was lower than that for whites. The result was that Black players had to show a greater level of cognitive impairment than white players in order to have their claims accepted. In June of 2020, two Black players whose claims were denied sued the NFL for using race norming as part of the protocol. The NFL finally decided to stop using race norming only after being sued. The two videos posted below provide a glimpse into this racist policy including examples of players impacted by it.
The history of eugenics and its legacy in “race norming” represent major contradictions to the foundation of our Biblical faith that all people are created in the image of God. It is important for us to oppose any practice or policy that minimizes or negates that we are all created equally. While it is easy to repudiate the discredited pseudoscience of eugenics as practiced in generations past, it is essential for us to be alert to ways in which the legacy of eugenics continues today. There continue to be race based disparities in health care. We must be clear that these are the consequences of systemic racism and have no relation to the discredited concept of race as a biological reality.