Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
19 November 2010
EUGENICS IN ACTION
It was not until 1972 that the Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta was repealed. The Act had come into force in 1928 at the height of the popularity of eugenics. Its purpose was to improve the gene pool by sterilizing people who were mentally disabled so they could not pass their conditions on to children.
IQ tests were given to identify those deemed in need of sterilization. This led to disproportionate numbers of some groups being treated.
Immigrants who had difficulty with English were bound to score lower on the IQ tests. So too, were Metis and Aboriginals for whom English was a second language.
Under the Act, several
thousand people were forcibly sterilized. The program was particularly popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
People suffering severe economic hardship were quick to blame their misfortunes on “defective breeding.” Those identified as sub-human were easy scapegoats; a common element in waves of racism that occur during hard times.
IQ tests were given to identify those deemed in need of sterilization. This led to disproportionate numbers of some groups being treated.
Immigrants who had difficulty with English were bound to score lower on the IQ tests. So too, were Metis and Aboriginals for whom English was a second language.
Under the Act, several
thousand people were forcibly sterilized. The program was particularly popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
People suffering severe economic hardship were quick to blame their misfortunes on “defective breeding.” Those identified as sub-
“Early racial theorizing divided humans into either
three (white, black, yellow) or five (Caucasian, African, Australasian, American, and Asian) biological races,
supposedly differing in intellect and personality.”
Steven and Hilary Rose, writing in The Guardian (U.K.), April 2005