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History of Discrimination
| Article
# : |
21537 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 2001 |
308 Words |
| Author
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Larry R. Churchill is professor of social medicine and
codirector of the Center for Health Ethics and Policy at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
In the United States, the history of discrimination in the areas of reproductive freedom, eligibility for military service, and employment options is a sobering one. For instance, during the 1920s and _30s, dozens of states engaged in involuntary sterilization of "habitual criminals" and "feebleminded" individuals. Such practices were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1925 (Buck v. Bell) as a public health matter, and they were widely condoned by the public. Yet many who were involuntarily sterilized were neither criminals nor mentally deficient but simply poor and socially stigmatized.
A similar bias was evident as late as the 1970s in the treatment of carriers of the sickle cell trait. They were systematically denied opportunities for military service, even though their own health was not affected. The Air Force Academy did not drop this exclusion until 1981.
Workplace screening for predispositions to illness was championed during the 1930s, as it became clear that some workers exposed to toxins on the job became ill while others did not. Such screening is an increasingly frequent though highly controversial practice in industry today. Screening prior to employment can help individuals avoid jobs that could be hazardous to their health. But testing workers for genetic susceptibility after they become ill could be a way for employers to avoid responsibility for workers' safety and compensation claims, shifting the blame to "genetically predisposed" workers while ignoring workplace hazards.
In our time, the potential for the reemergence of involuntary sterilization as a U.S. social policy seems remote. Legislative protections for disabled
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