Eugenics: The Fit and Unfit
Dr. Antonette presents both British and American eugenics perspectives. The eugenics entails those perceived as fit and unfit within a human population based on their economic status, IQ, and race. Moreover, she indicates that the unfit involves those that have inherited diseases and those acquired diseases through substance abuse (Antonette 00:01:58 min). For this reason, British eugenics ideologists aimed at assembling the fit individuals to make more fit babies. In the process, they let unfit people die of natural causes to decrease their suffering hence reduce their population. Furthermore, they prevented unfit people from reproducing by denying them financial support, education, and access to health care services. According to Dr. Antonette, economically unable people feeding on a paycheck-to-paycheck serve as an example of unfit individuals. Whereas the fit individuals economically involve those with the ability to assist financially those in need. The feeble mindedness peoples involved an exceptional class of people. These people of feeble-mindedness include imbecility, moron, and idiocy. According to Dr. Antonette, a moron entails a normal individual, but not sharp.
Sexually promiscuous women and giving birth to children out of marriage demonstrate feeble mindedness traits. Additionally, the concept of eugenics considers non-whites as unfit and feeble-minded. The video illustrates that the British eugenics model mainly meant to define the upper-middle-class wealthy white individuals considered as fit and anyone out of the circle as unfit. Dr. Antonette indicates that the British eugenics had positive and negative eugenics. Positive eugenics supported fit people financially and encouraged those to enable them to make more fit babies (Antonette 00:25:53 min). Additionally, supported marriage between fit people and ensured they gave birth to multiple kids that inherited fit genes hence an increased fit population. On the other hand, negative eugenics aimed at denying the poor financial support and excluded them from education and access to healthcare services to allow them to die of natural diseases and reduce their agony.
Dr. Antonette also indicates that Charles Davenport brought eugenics into America when he saw they could make a better human as they make better animals. The positive eugenics in America aimed at identifying fit people encouraged and helped them financially to have more babies. Negative eugenics in America identified unfit people, denied them charitable assistance, and excluded their children from healthcare and education services (Antonette 0:46:09). Additionally, they excluded them from IQ testing, imposed immigration laws to hinder them from coming to American. Consequently, they proposed institutionalization of unfit people but failed due to laws prohibiting the act, and imposed sterilization laws in the 1940s and 1950s. Sterilization laws against imprisoned women and on those people perceived unfit aimed at decreasing their population. Lastly, the Americans applied Jim Crow laws to limit unfit people. These laws aimed at limiting the presence of black people in America.
The man difference between British and American eugenics is that British eugenics had no race perspective like the USA. Additionally, America took drastic measures immediately to stop unfit people from reproducing while Britain took time. Blumenbach defined indicated that the world contains three kinds of people that include caucus word, main road, and mongoloid people (Antonette 01:04:05 min). The caucus people contain beautiful people where Americans believe they originated. Such a belief has resulted in the American culture that believes that they are different and unique people than others. Those Americans that support eugenics include Alexander Graham, Winston Churchill, The Rockefellers family cand Woodrow Wilson. The Nazis never invented the eugenics ideas; hence Hitler only took it on the next levels.
Reflection
The ideology of eugenics in both Britain and America has resulted in the increased issues of racism and discrimination against people of color in modern society. It is through eugenics that the world continues to witness increased cases of lawful and unlawful abortion. In this case, upon realizing pregnancy complication or conceiving while many unmarried women opt for abortion. They abort to prevent them from society, judging them as feeble-minded and promiscuous. Additionally, eugenics has increased the perception that white people are better in all aspects of life than others in the modern world is. Eugenic ideology resulted in white creating diseases like HIV/AIDS to eliminate Africans as unfit population. Consequently, eugenics endangers populations perceived as unfit through increased oppression, increased brutality, and unwarranted suffering.
Economic Racism
Dr. Sid Crudup presents economic racism. He indicates that racial segregation contains both pros and cons based on James Baldwin and Huey Newton in the Back Panther party perspectives, respectively. Dr. Sid also suggests that that the music industry in America has promoted cultural appropriation of the black culture and black music (Crudup 00:28:28 min). The music industry determines how the black community should appear. The industry has limited its resources to enhance its control of blacks since they have no ability to fight back. Additionally, the lack of resources has resulted in the appropriation of black culture. Such an occurrence hinders the current population from tracing, where it all started. Dr. Sid also states that the recording industry has always accelerated the theft of black music. The causes of this kind of robbery include but not limited to racial inequality, based on economic inequality and income inequality.
Economic racism has also resulted in people taking away things like payments of talented individuals due to the color of their skin. Dr. Sid defines racism as a system, mindset that could come from either white or black individuals (Crudup 00:09:55 min). According to Baldwin’s perspective on racism is that one part of the world does not comprehend racism while the other does. Huey’s perspective indicates that the only way to eliminate racism is for the two sides to assemble and desegregate. The police, government, and white businesspersons exploit the black community as a colony in America. The wealthy capitalist in America has ensured the appropriation of black music to generate music that humiliates the black community by producing music that makes the black community look unintelligent and stupid.
Dr. Sid also states the ways the black community could end such forms of economic racism include freedom and having the power to determine their destiny. The blacks should have the power to control all the community’s institutions and have full employment (Crudup 00:36:48 min). They should end the capitalist robbery in the music industry. The blacks ought to have decent housing, decent education that teaches the real history and their actual role in modern society. Blacks should also have a completely free health care system where the government gives free health care services to oppressed communities to treat illnesses resulting from oppression. The government should also provide mass health education to oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical data.
Segregation and desegregation involve one person working for something, but someone else earns from it. For instance, most black musicians produce music, but white capitalist license it to someone else hence earns from other people’s ideology and hard work. Dr. Sid argues that this is the kind of economic racism in modern American society against people of color. Additionally, he illustrates that the only difference between the whites and blacks is that blacks had no equal resources, schools, jobs, and economy to ensure equality with whites (Crudup 0:47:32 min). He argues that the only way to acquire equality is through integration. Nevertheless, integration has problems that include loss of power, infectivity, and creativity. Therefore, the most effective way to obtain equality, according to Dr. Sid, is to tape what was better utilize it to arrive at a consensus to enable people to get along hence make it work in America. Dr. Sid argues that to eliminate economic racism, we ought to educate the oppressed individuals in America to know them of who they are. Consequently, people of color to extract resources from the oppressors by stopping spending on their items since they form the biggest consumers in America would end economic racism.
Reflection
Lack of progress among the black community in the music industry resulted from economic oppression from white capitalists. The oppression results in a lack of exploitation of talent among the black community witnessed in the current society. For this reason, the white capitalist continues to control the blacks taking away their creativity, infectivity, and power hence resulting in continued economic disparities witnessed between the people of color and whites. Consequently, increased theft in terms of piracy in the music industry results from racism. Economic racism has resulted in increased health issues across America among people of color. The government must promote equality to end such suffering among the people of color.
What is in a Name?
Chacko states that Becky and Karen form the type of stereotype white names. She argues that a name carries the burden the ancestors underwent as slaves, and until someone lived the experience, they never faced oppression, but only inconvenienced (Chacko 00:12:18 min). Names carry the burden of the ancestors throughout someone’s life. Jacob Chacko argues that enslavement and colonization take away the culture, names, and traditions of the colonized. She also argues that there is a sense of pride when one establishes where people originated. For this reason, a name defines someone and shows where that person originated. Additionally, names mean a lot to people, for they give the history of individuals.
Chacko also argues that some people would think that their family is pure. Nevertheless, nobody is pure because of various reasons. Additionally, she argues that race does not exist; hence one could become pure since, within someone’s bloodline, there exists no race. Despite the argument that there is no race, America contains ethnicity, where numerous people have similar physical characteristics. In this case, ethnicity exists because people tend to gravitate towards those individuals that look similar to them. Human beings have some physical attributes that associate them with one another (Chacko 0:35:53 min). She also argues that these human attributes vary across the board at different degrees. Therefore, people near the equator have darker skin, and people get lighter as they move away from the equator. The physical attributes of humans change due to the adaptation of the principles of natural selection. People from various parts could have similar traditions and cultures, but at some point have some kind of differences. For instance, Native Americans have different ways of life-based on living, worshiping, crafts, and arts, but they have the same ethnicity.
Chacko states that language families serve a huge indicator of where someone’s origin . Therefore, when people say they come from a certain pure ethnicity, they only mean their ancestors originated from a certain group or a given area. The language people speak the origin of people and where they came from as well as their names (Chacko 1:05:36 min). Chacko also indicates how racism takes place in America based on physical appearance and relating people to color. Consequently, she advises that people of color should learn to tell the police what they want to hear to avoid the problem. Furthermore, people should always be careful when dealing with police officers, especially when one belongs to a certain color. Chacko indicates that the police officers apply the law unequal when it comes to color. Therefore, there exists social injustice in America accelerated by the police due to the power differential between the police and the people of color.
The reason why some people harass others is that they want to show off their powers. However, people should learn to take it easy and move over it to avoid more problems. The reason why people should avoid such situations is that there is no true justice in America. When police force people to do what they desire, Jacob refers to this a systemic racism and old fashioned (Chacko 1:09:50 min). Consequently, Jacob argues that when someone’s life or wellbeing becomes at stake, it’s better to go along with whatever that is just to survive. She also asserts that currently, people live in a world with a huge power differential that enables people to go away with big issues without punishment. Such power differential powers hinder social justice in America. Additionally, money and power hinder the implementation of justice, and people should consider that when picking up some battles, especially people of color.
Reflection
Names have a huge meaning since they define where people come from and who they really are. The increased incidences witnessed across the USA results from the meaning of some of the names given to the people of color. In this case, police officers relate names they see on people’s identification cards and oppress them due to their origin. Therefore, names have increased social injustice, systemic racism, and racial abuse in America. Additionally, names would result in unwarranted punishment due to what they define or illustrate in America in modern society, especially against people of color.
Police Work
Paiz talks about police work, and the police conduct their business as law enforcers. The officer suggests that the police work overtime has remained the same, but the delivery model has changed too over time. He argues that the current new generation of police has a unique way of doing police work; in this case, they have a more intuitive, quick, and result-oriented (Paiz 0:15:56 min). Additionally, the officers illustrate how technology has changed how the new generation of police officers do their work due to the invention and use of phones, computers, and many applications. Traditionally it took more time to do police work compared to now thanks to technological advances. Paiz argues that if people treated other people with respect and dignity, mostly those people would reciprocate on the same. Additionally, the manner the parents raise their children, coupled with what they learn through life situations, helps them to know how to carry out police work. In this case, police with high value for respect, dignity for others, and good parental care do their police work effectively without bias.
Paiz illustrates that resistance alters everything when doing police work. For instance, Sandra Blanda’s arrest shows how resistance when dealing with police could change how police handle a victim. He explains this and says that when a police officer questions, one must answer because it’s a lawful order. Therefore, one should answer then seek explanations later to avoid charges against resistance to a lawful order from the police officer (Paiz 00:38:55 min). Furthermore, Gus asserts that even if someone feels that whatever the police officers ask remains unethical, illegal, or immoral, just obey first then complain later to avoid unnecessary problems. Therefore, even without probable cause, a police officer has the right to ask you to step outside the car, and one ought to obey.
Gus suggests that the Rodney King incident serves the catalyst to the recording of police work in modern society. Incident gave the police work a tainted name and not only the LAPD but the general police force. Gus argues that the tools the police officers carry along with them like guns teasers, and many others do not form the strongest weapon when enforcing the law, but the mouth is one (Paiz 1:02:52 min). The mouth forms one of the things that would get someone into any trouble or out of trouble. According to Gus, technology has resulted in escalating issues in modern police work, unlike before technological advancement. Additionally, technology has helped in bringing out the officers doing their police work in the wrong ways. Moreover, technology has helped many victims and police officers to exonerate themselves out of false accusations.
Reflection
Improved technology in the police department and the world at large has promoted police officers to give better services to civilians. The fact that they fear being recorded they do a better job. Due to the Rodney King’s recording on how police do their work, most police officers feel intimidated when recorded in the line of duty. Technology saves time people take in police work hence increased efficiency and effectiveness.
Work cited
Antonette. “Meeting Recording, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing.” Zoom Video, 2020:https://csusb.zoom.us/rec/share/uPFENbfUtXFIGIWK1GeFeoEgN7nEX6a82igY86JfxRxyLW992XGzPPUCzJsmNcZb
Chacko, Jacob.”Meeting Recording, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing”. Zoom Video,2020:https://csusb.zoom.us/rec/share/vuN6C4jv0EhOZqvB0UXlB6k4D6T9eaa8gHccrqcMykkw3bmI3sV_cy7G-cNcjjbf
Crudup, Sid. “Meeting Recording, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing.” Zoom
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2020:https://csusb.zoom.us/rec/share/xeVkNJLVr01OHI3_wW_xQqJ-Ba_8aaa8gXAd-6YNz0ihjLQeW2qD2EOPWeaWIM92
Paiz, Gus. “Meeting Recording, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing.” Zoom
Video,
2020:https://csusb.zoom.us/rec/share/vfd2D4PI1nlLRNL34XDiWI8bWb68T6a81SdIrKELyErllbs_EnwrvD9Yc_FNb29b