North Carolina Eugenics Program—When Will Victims Be Compensated?

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North Carolina Eugenics Program—When Will Victims Be Compensated?

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BACKGROUND | FROM FORCE CHANGE

Target: North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue

Goal: Give back to the victims of the North Carolina eugenics program who have had so much taken from them.  Make it a priority of the state to see to it that these people get the proper financial compensation, medical care, and counseling.

A North Carolinian women, Elaine Riddick, is speaking out about a dark period in her life, her state, and the country’s history. When Elaine was 13-years-old, she was taking the long road home when she was raped by a neighbor and subsequently got pregnant.

Nine months later, she checked in to the hospital to give birth to her son, and when she awoke she found her stomach wrapped in bandages. Still a child she was unsure of what had transpired, but later she would find out that she was involuntarily sterilized by a state-wide government run eugenics problem. This child would be her last.

In an attempt to weed out bad habits in the population, the eugenics program emerged in the states in the 1920s and targeted those who were thought of as (among other things) “mentally retarded” or “promiscuous”—as was the case with Riddick.

“I was raped by a perpetrator [who was never charged] and then I was raped by the state of North Carolina,” Riddick explains. “They took something from me both times…The state of North Carolina, they took something so dearly from me, something that was God given.”

Riddick was just one of many victims of the North Carolina eugenics program that lasted between 1929 and 1974, officially being repealed in 2003.  It was during this time period that over 7,600 were sterilized in this state alone. In 2002, the state issued an apology for all those affected by the brutal practice, but these same victims have not received financial compensation, medical care, or counseling from the state.

Governor Beverly Perdue has already started a task force working to get the proper compensation for these victims. Yet, even while there is movement in a positive direction in this case, some fear that there is procrastination on the side of the state.


PETITION LETTER:

Dear Governor Perdue,

It is hard to hear that a system, like that of the eugenics program that took place for the better half of last century, ever existed in a country that we view as being progressive. It is even harder to hear that those who suffered at the hands of a government wishing to essentially wipe them out are still being met my bureaucratic red tape.

Ms. Perdue, you have stated that, in regards to this controversy, the state needs to move forward and help those who were and continue to be the victims of the sterilization process. Your work in righting this wrong is commendable; however, many fear that there is procrastination in getting the proper compensation for these individuals.

I urge you to continue the work in getting the financial compensation, medical care, and counseling for these victims in the timeliest manner.  This history is dark and will not just go away if ignored. The victims of this state’s eugenics programs have suffered long and hard and have carried this with them long enough.

Victims, like Elaine Riddick, deserve to finally be a priority.

Sincerely,


VIDEO TESTIMONY

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See More:

• Force Change
• Human Rights

How do you compensate
After such a terrible
Action
And too long a wait

Karen Lyons Kalmenson