A Time of Decision for the Black Community | Sojourners

A Time of Decision for the Black Community

What Columbus' expedition bequeathed was a genocidal impulse in the culture in relation to people of color. Today, as a result of this, I as an African-American mother, and we in the African-American community, are facing serious questions. Will our black American children be allowed to live tomorrow? Will their children be allowed to live?

For the first time in the history of this country, a state has legalized its support of eugenics -- that ugly "science" advocating the elimination of birth "defects" through scientific procedures. The state of Maryland has legally declared that abortion may happen "at any time during the woman's pregnancy if the fetus is affected by genetic defect or serious deformity or abnormality."

For generations in America, the mainline culture has considered "blackness" as bad and defective. Hate groups, dedicated to the elimination of black Americans and the establishment of a "master" (non-black, non-Jewish) white race, have increased to more than 200 organizations.

The current debate in many national locations over the drug Norplant has genocidal overtones. This drug comes in capsule form. It is implanted in women's arms and emits contraceptives slowly into the women's system for approximately five years. One Philadelphia newspaper urged its readers to consider Norplant a weapon against black poverty. The article does not suggest the use of Norplant as a weapon against white poverty. Hence I ask: In the work of interpreting the Maryland law, can black skin be defined as a birth defect and therefore validate the extermination of black babies? Who will decide what is defective?

Read the Full Article

​You've reached the end of our free magazine preview. For full digital access to Sojourners articles for as little as $3.95, please subscribe now. Your subscription allows us to pay authors fairly for their terrific work!
Subscribe Now!
for more info