7 ms·

The cherry on top is the history of eugenics in the US, with forced sterilizations extending into the 1970's (!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_

The cherry on top is the history of eugenics in the US, with forced sterilizations extending into the 1970's (!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States#Compulsory_sterilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States#... It's a chilling read, not for the faint of heart.

xenadu02 9y ago
Fun fact: The Nazis looked to American Eugenics and race purity laws as an inspiration. It was only after the horrors of WW2 came out that the US rejected these policies.
- throwaway2048 9y ago
  And apartheid was modeled on the Canadian native reserve and treaty system.
- ouid 9y ago
  that doesn't sound like a "fact". I'm not saying that you're wrong, I'm just saying that I don't believe you until you provide a source, i.e. some nazi expounding on how they never would have had the idea for racial purity if it hadn't been for america.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    I took “looked to American...laws for inspiration” not to mean they got the idea to care about racial purity from America (it was globally a common idea for millenia before the Nazis, and remains common today) but that, in terms of concrete policy to realize those pre-existing concernd, the racial laws of the US at the time were among the sources they consulted for ideas.
    - ouid 9y ago
      without any sort of concrete evidence that the national socialists were actively modeling their policies after US policy, I have no reason to believe this either. Two countries can have backwards policies without one having been "inspiration" for the other.
      - folk_kilobyte 9y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_eugenics#Origins_in_the_U.S._eugenics_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_eugenics#Origins_in_the_U... http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Eugenics-and-the-Nazis-the-California-2549771.php http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Eugenics-and-the-Nazis... > During the '20s, Carnegie Institution eugenic scientists cultivated deep personal and professional relationships with Germany's fascist eugenicists. In "Mein Kampf," published in 1924, Hitler quoted American eugenic ideology and openly displayed a thorough knowledge of American eugenics. "There is today one state," wrote Hitler, "in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception (of immigration) are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the United States." > Hitler proudly told his comrades just how closely he followed the progress of the American eugenics movement. "I have studied with great interest," he told a fellow Nazi, "the laws of several American states concerning prevention of reproduction by people whose progeny would, in all probability, be of no value or be injurious to the racial stock." > Hitler even wrote a fan letter to American eugenics leader Madison Grant, calling his race-based eugenics book, "The Passing of the Great Race," his "bible."
        ouid 9y ago
        Thank you for this!
- charlescearl 9y ago
  You might want to check the date of the US Supreme Court's Loving decision. The state of Alabama still had eugenics based laws on "miscegenation" until the 1970's.
- charlescearl 9y ago
  You might want to check the date of the US Supreme Court's Loving decision. The state of Alabama still had eugenics based laws on "miscegenation" until the 1970's.
jorjordandan 9y ago
Canada too... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization_in_Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization_in_Ca...
Alex3917 9y ago
U.S. declaring that mercury is no longer harmful and is safe for children: a couple weeks ago. It's not like the exact same type of stuff isn't still happening today, just no one cares until twenty years later or whatever.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- daveFNbuck 9y ago
  I'm having trouble finding any source for this that links to any sources. Do you have evidence this actually happened?
  - Alex3917 9y ago
    http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2017/trump-s-epa-considers-reversal-of-limits-on-toxic-air-pollution http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2017/trump-s-epa-consider... Or you can just google trump EPA mercury and take your pick of sources.
    - daveFNbuck 9y ago
      I don't see anywhere in this article or in the Google search claiming that the EPA made a statement that mercury is no longer harmful or that it's safe for children.
fredgrott 9y ago
no that is not the chilling part...Bush Sr supported it and got it in motion..brings his brown little ones comment into better light doesn't it?
dang 9y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14613088 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14613088 and marked it off-topic.

xenadu02 9y ago

Fun fact: The Nazis looked to American Eugenics and race purity laws as an inspiration. It was only after the horrors of WW2 came out that the US rejected these policies.

throwaway2048 9y ago
And apartheid was modeled on the Canadian native reserve and treaty system.
ouid 9y ago
that doesn't sound like a "fact". I'm not saying that you're wrong, I'm just saying that I don't believe you until you provide a source, i.e. some nazi expounding on how they never would have had the idea for racial purity if it hadn't been for america.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  I took “looked to American...laws for inspiration” not to mean they got the idea to care about racial purity from America (it was globally a common idea for millenia before the Nazis, and remains common today) but that, in terms of concrete policy to realize those pre-existing concernd, the racial laws of the US at the time were among the sources they consulted for ideas.
  - ouid 9y ago
    without any sort of concrete evidence that the national socialists were actively modeling their policies after US policy, I have no reason to believe this either. Two countries can have backwards policies without one having been "inspiration" for the other.
    - folk_kilobyte 9y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_eugenics#Origins_in_the_U.S._eugenics_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_eugenics#Origins_in_the_U... http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Eugenics-and-the-Nazis-the-California-2549771.php http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Eugenics-and-the-Nazis... > During the '20s, Carnegie Institution eugenic scientists cultivated deep personal and professional relationships with Germany's fascist eugenicists. In "Mein Kampf," published in 1924, Hitler quoted American eugenic ideology and openly displayed a thorough knowledge of American eugenics. "There is today one state," wrote Hitler, "in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception (of immigration) are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the United States." > Hitler proudly told his comrades just how closely he followed the progress of the American eugenics movement. "I have studied with great interest," he told a fellow Nazi, "the laws of several American states concerning prevention of reproduction by people whose progeny would, in all probability, be of no value or be injurious to the racial stock." > Hitler even wrote a fan letter to American eugenics leader Madison Grant, calling his race-based eugenics book, "The Passing of the Great Race," his "bible."
      - ouid 9y ago
        Thank you for this!
charlescearl 9y ago
You might want to check the date of the US Supreme Court's Loving decision. The state of Alabama still had eugenics based laws on "miscegenation" until the 1970's.
charlescearl 9y ago
You might want to check the date of the US Supreme Court's Loving decision. The state of Alabama still had eugenics based laws on "miscegenation" until the 1970's.

jorjordandan 9y ago

Canada too... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization_in_Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization_in_Ca...

Alex3917 9y ago

U.S. declaring that mercury is no longer harmful and is safe for children: a couple weeks ago. It's not like the exact same type of stuff isn't still happening today, just no one cares until twenty years later or whatever.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
daveFNbuck 9y ago
I'm having trouble finding any source for this that links to any sources. Do you have evidence this actually happened?
- Alex3917 9y ago
  http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2017/trump-s-epa-considers-reversal-of-limits-on-toxic-air-pollution http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2017/trump-s-epa-consider... Or you can just google trump EPA mercury and take your pick of sources.
  - daveFNbuck 9y ago
    I don't see anywhere in this article or in the Google search claiming that the EPA made a statement that mercury is no longer harmful or that it's safe for children.

fredgrott 9y ago

no that is not the chilling part...Bush Sr supported it and got it in motion..brings his brown little ones comment into better light doesn't it?

dang 9y ago

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14613088 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14613088 and marked it off-topic.