Race and Membership in American History: The Eugenics Movement

Race and Membership resource bookRace and Membership in American History: The Eugenics Movement focuses on a time in the early 1900s when many people believed that some "races," classes, and individuals were superior to others. They used a new branch of scientific inquiry known as eugenics to justify their prejudices and advocate programs and policies aimed at solving the nation's problems by ridding society of "inferior racial traits."

 

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Science Fictions and Social Realities
- Beyond Classification
- Race and Racism

Chapter 2: Race, Democracy, and Citizenship
- Who is Human?
- Ranking Humankind

Chapter 3: Evolution, "Progress", and Eugenics
- Race Improvement

Chapter 4: In an Age of "Progress"
- A Celebration of "Progress"

Chapter 5: Eugenics and the Power of Testing
- Targeting the Unfit
- Revising the Test

Chapter 6: Toward Civic Biology
- Eugenics, Race, and Marriage
- "Three Generations of Imbeciles"?

Chapter 7: Eugenics, Citizenship, and Immigration
- The Debate in Congress

Chapter 8: The Nazi Connection
- Under the Cover of Law

Chapter 9: Legacies and Possibilities