Eugenics plan can redeem North Carolina's honor
Published July 25, 2013
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, July 24, 2013.
There are a few unanswered questions about North Carolina's despicable eugenics program and who will be compensated for having been forcibly sterilized. But begin with an important twist of history.
After World War II, when most states were abandoning their eugenics programs as the extent of Hitler's depravity came to light, North Carolina expanded its own. Today, this state is poised to become the first to compensate those it victimized.
The program and the pseudo-science that drove it have been discussed for decades. But the deal struck in the current legislative session will be the first that actually does something. That is a victory worth celebrating.
It has flaws. The House wanted payments of $50,000 per victim, but a $10 million set-aside will allow for that only if a couple of hundred claimants show up. By one official estimate, as many as 1,800 victims may still be living. Even if that estimate is 800 too high, the result will be payments of only $10,000 each.
And there's a deadline. The money is to be distributed among verified claimants in 2015. What of cases uncovered later?
If they will add a commitment to review all such cases and do what's right, the lawmakers will fully get this burden off their shoulders.
July 25, 2013 at 1:41 pm
dj anderson says:
Of the sterilizations done legally, why would NC pay survivors? Why not then pay the racial minorities who were not hired as policemen and fire fighter and highway patrol and the homosexuals denied rights? A precedent has been set.
