Education Inequality as Modern Eugenics

Creating greater awareness of the vast consequences of education inequality

I chose to integrate eugenics and education because I believe the inequities we see in education today classify as a form of modern eugenics. However, education is not commonly discussed in this way. So, I want to use the concept of eugenics, which most Americans find horrific and abominable, to open reader’s eyes to seeing education inequities as a critical issue.

Eugenics

First, what is eugenics? Eugenics is:

“the philosophy and social movement that argues it is possible to improve the human race and society” through altering genetics.

This is done through positive eugenics, which encourages reproduction by those with “desirable” traits, and negative eugenics, which discourages reproduction by people with “undesirable” traits. Good traits have historically came from Anglo-Saxon, able bodied, heterosexual, and middle and upper class populations. However, those who are in poverty, disabled, non-heterosexual, and Black/brown are seen as having less desirable traits. Common societal implications of eugenics from the past, and often today, are forced sterilization, availability of birth control, and euthanasia. Forced sterilization involves castration or removal of the uterus for women and euthanasia is the practice of killing the ‘diseased’. Birth control was made more easily available in poor and Black neighborhoods so they could have fewer children. The American eugenics movement began in the 1920s and resulted in the sterilization of over 64,000 people in the country, many of whom are still alive and working towards justice.

Now, what does this have to do with education? Well, I argue that educational inequality is a form of modern negative eugenics by creating a life that is short and of lower quality for minorities, attempting to decrease their population numbers and reproduction.

Education

It is known that schools today are more segregated than they were in the early 1950s, before schools were legally desegregated. School segregation also corresponds with housing segregation. Due to many societal and educational factors, such as wealth, income, and housing inequality, poor people are typically clustered together in poor neighborhoods. The schools in these neighborhoods are funded largely on local property taxes which are low in low-income areas. So, schools with less funding have students with lower educational outcomes due to fewer resources available. These schools are primarily minority schools due to systemic racism that forces them into the same areas and schools.

Primarily low socioeconomic status and minority schools have high teacher turnover rates and less qualified staff and teachers due to teachers not wanting to work in these areas or viewing “urban” schools as a practice year for the “real thing”. There is also the underlying belief that Black children are rowdy, loud, annoying, and hard to handle, which deters qualified teachers. Students are additionally dealing with stress from poverty, discrimination, and other minority-specific issues, so working in these schools is often seen as a challenge.

Education as Eugenics

The conditions of these schools leave many of the students within them limited choices, including dropping out of school. The low education attainment level then impacts where they are able to work, how much they earn, and what healthcare they can receive. These factors that originate from school experiences and low education level then impact health, which leads to a shorter life span. Specific health conditions that disproportionately impact minorities are diabetes and hypertension, both of which are related to available food. With a lower income, healthy food is less of an option due to the price. The graph below provides more details about the lifetime of inequality.

Through education, society, including politicians, government, and administration, is purposefully creating a harsh life for minorities. The evidence though is clear: this life that has been crafted for people of color will likely will lead to lower education, shorter life span, disease, mental health issues, low income, and lack of adequate health care. This cycle is continuous and was created with the intention to create a life for Black and brown people that is not equal to Whites’. And this cycle often starts with receiving a significantly ‘less-than’ education. The problems we are seeing now are directly related to slavery and the ways in which Whites needed to control Black people after slavery was abolished. There is an abundance of research that supports this, yet no change is being made. This is a clear form of eugenics due to the systematic nature of the issue, purposeful creation of barriers, and lack of effort by people in power to produce change.

Moving back towards education specifically, the school to prison pipeline is particularly applicable to minorities, specifically Black students. High policing, punishments, and referrals to the juvenile or criminal justice system disproportionately affects minority students. This sets them on a track towards dropping out or failing in school, crime, and prison. The high percentage of Black people, specifically Black men, who go to prison is astounding and also has systemic roots (e.g. high policing, racist perceptions of Black people, justice system prejudices). This is yet another effort to cluster Black bodies in one place, called incarceration, where conditions are terrible and opportunities are close to none.

The conditions that minority students are cycled through, beginning at birth, significantly impact their quality of life, including the experience of hardships. These adversities certainly are associated with mental health and even physical issues. The stress of being a minority and being discriminated against takes a toll on people, especially children and adolescents. Their self-esteem is lowered and they may succumb to society’s expectations of them. This often occurs in school, when students have teachers who lack cultural competency, have underlying prejudices, and are not interested in their wellbeing.

Society is currently, as it has been, punishing people solely for the color of their skin. A shorter life span, a more difficult life, a worse life trajectory, and mental and physical adversities are the effects of modern, systemic eugenics. Society, including the government and education system, is purposefully making it difficult for minorities to live and reproduce as equal human beings simply because of race, which is only a human-made construct.

The role of Uncle Sam

I always like to talk about the US federal government’s involvement in these social, racial issues. Many believe Uncle Sam has not been heavily involved in these issues, yet it should actually take much of the blame. Many of the educational phenomena are caused by federal policy and governmental decisions, the most well-known discussed here being legal school segregation. Yet the federal government also played a large role in housing segregation by allowing, and even encouraging, not selling homes to Negros in White areas. This lead to the housing and school crowding we see today. The government is also responsible for school funding being based on property taxes which hurts poor areas.

The eugenics movement was also government sanctioned. Immigration laws were created so immigrants who did not pass a particular IQ test and other absurd examinations were not allowed into the country. Jews during the Holocaust were subject to this, and a group of them were rejected asylum here and were sent back to the Holocaust. Additionally, Hitler said himself that:

“I have studied with great interest the laws of several American states concerning prevention of reproduction.”

Most states also had a state eugenics board, where children would be recommended to the board and board members would decide if they should be sterilized. These people, primarily women, are still alive today.

I believe viewing educational inequality as a form of eugenics can be very beneficial in seeing how harmful our education system, and society, is in the livelihoods of minorities. We were so disgusted with the holocaust, yet another eugenics movement is happening right under our noses and many turn a blind eye.

Disclaimer: This is a personal opinion piece that is based on my opinions, experiences, and beliefs. I am in college and I have accumulated plenty of knowledge about this subject so most of this is from memory. If you have any questions about where I found certain information I can definitely try and find a source for you.