Abstract
Forced sterilization was an accepted legal practice in the United States during the beginning and middle of the previous century. It was promoted by an international movement to prevent procreation by those deemed unworthy of reproduction (Black, 2003). North Carolina has recently decided to pay reparations to forced sterilization victims (Editorial (Winston-Salem Journal), 2013) and the state of Virginia has more recently emulated this decision (Martz & Nolan 2015). This analysis will discuss the common eugenic history of many states but will also highlight North Carolina’s distinctiveness on this issue. The qualitative portion of the analysis will explain the historical reasons North Carolina would be likely to be the first state to adopt this policy. Our quantitative analysis will examine the role of news coverage of sterilization policy in North Carolina and its relationship to the decision to adopt a policy of reparations.
Highlights
Forced sterilization was an accepted legal practice in the United States during the beginning and middle of the previous century
Virginia has since made the same decision (Martz & Nolan, 2015), but North Carolina pioneered this policy among US states, so the genesis of the policy in North Carolina will be the focus of this analysis
We focus on July 2013 because it is the month and year in which the North Carolina state legislature formally approved and budgeted the payment of reparations to the surviving victims of the state‟s eugenic sterilization program (25 July 2013)
Summary
Beyond discussing the influences on policymakers of the time and why states would choose to adopt eugenic policies, the historical analysis will address specific aspects of North Carolina‟s program that distinguished it from those of other states. This will help explain why North Carolina would likely be the first to approve reparations, which is a question central to this study. The study will examine the role of media in the contemporary debate over reparations for sterilization survivors This discussion will follow the qualitative and historical explanations of why states chose to adopt eugenic policies and the discussion of unique attributes of North Carolina‟s program. This examination will be conducted by analyzing the volume of related articles preceding significant achievements by the movement for reparations, culminating in the decision of the state to compensate survivors
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