ABSTRACT
Eugenics is a philosophy that supports the improvement of the human species through human engineering and selection. Eugenics has been inextricably linked to nationalism, racism, Nazism, and white supremacy, and it attempts to use science to support claims that some peoples are naturally superior to others. Proponents of eugenics used physical measurements of slaves to conclude that they were inferior to the white race. The American eugenics movement peaked in the 1920s when states began enacting legislation for the forced sterilization of the mentally ill, the physically ill, and criminals. In Buck, the Supreme Court reviewed Virginia's Eugenical Sterilization Act, which allowed inmates in the state's asylum to be sterilized against their will. Some eugenics critics argue that eugenic ideals have been aided by birth control and abortion, with the state directing advertising toward African American and Native American women and the poor.
