An Alternate Form of Genocide: Eugenics

As I was on the MSN home page, an
article popped up about involuntary sterilization in North Carolina. Of course the headline alone got my attention. I click the link (http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/07/8640744-victims-speak-out-about-north-carolina-sterilization-program-which-targeted-women-young-girls-and-blacks) and find one of the most disturbing stories that I have ever laid eyes on. Let me summarize the story of Elaine Riddick: she was 13, got raped...and as a result the state sterilized her without her knowledge. Their reasoning? She was "promiscuous" and "feeble minded". Oh yeah, and that she didn't "get along with her peers". What kind of bull shit is that?! Really? Like you are not even going to have the decency to tell someone that you sterilized them. The only child that she has, is the one that she had as a result of being raped. The saddest part of this story is that she is one of many. There was actually a Eugenics board in NC that decided who was to be sterilized and who wasn't. Eugenics, as explained on the link, is the idea that some people are just not fit to reproduce; because of certain traits that they possess that were believed to be inherited. Who the Hell are they to play God? Ruining the lives of these young women and men (mostly black, and poor). What does it benefit society to deprive someone of the right to have children? That is a right given to us by God, and should only be taken away by that same source. What kind of world do we live in where the rich feel empowered to single-handedly exterminate a whole race or social class of people? Especially, on the basis of "poverty, promiscuity, and alcoholism" being hereditary. It seems as though, the people in power are always looking for ways to diminish the weaker group. It happened during WWII with the Jews in the concentration camps, it is constantly happening in Africa (Sudan, Rwanda, etc), and now in our backyard? Well, let me correct myself...it's always been in our backyard. The KKK and other hateful groups boasted patriotism as they murdered and terrorized people based on race. But, I guess we thought that it was behind us. What bothers me the most about this situation, is that even though the Eugenics board in NC was dismantled in 1977; they continued to do involuntary sterilization LEGALLY until 2003. Really?! This is inexcusable behavior and a blatant hatred for your fellow man. At the end of the day we all bleed red, and feel pain, why is race and social class that threatening? Don't these people have a conscience? By robbing these folks of the experience of conceiving and birthing their own child, there is nothing that can be done to repair the damages. Even if the people responsible were to be put to death, it doesn't mean that there won't be another deplorable instance in the future. "Humans are the only species that kill their own kind." Think on that and let that marinate. I pray for those that had to go through this devastating experience, and for those that committed this atrocity.