Stigmatization and the Re-Articulation of Eugenic Ideology: a Study of Coded Racism in Family Planning Policy from the 1920S to the 1990S Michael Muhammad
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Sociology ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 9-12-2014 Stigmatization and the Re-Articulation of Eugenic Ideology: A Study of Coded Racism in Family Planning Policy from the 1920s to the 1990s Michael Muhammad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/soc_etds Recommended Citation Muhammad, Michael. "Stigmatization and the Re-Articulation of Eugenic Ideology: A Study of Coded Racism in Family Planning Policy from the 1920s to the 1990s." (2014). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/soc_etds/34 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Michael Muhammad Candidate Sociology Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez, Chairperson Howard Waitzkin, Co-Chairperson Felipe Gonzales Tassy Parker ii STIGMATIZATION AND THE RE-ARTICULATION OF EUGENIC IDEOLOGY: A STUDY OF CODED RACISM IN FAMILY PLANNING POLICY FROM THE 1920S TO THE 1990S by MICHAEL MUHAMMAD B.S., Economics, Florida A & M University, 1989 M.A., Sociology, Cleveland State University, 2009 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2014 iii DEDICATION In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. I bear witness there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger. This work is dedicated to the countless individuals victimized by colonialism, racism, sexism and class exploitation. Justice has entered the land... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I take this opportunity to acknowledge the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through a doctoral fellowship with the Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico, and the department of sociology for providing a graduate assistantship. I also thank the faculty, staff and graduate students in the department of sociology for their academic support, mentoring and for creating an intellectually stimulating environment. I do not have the words to express my full appreciation to the administration, staff, senior and doctoral fellows affiliated with the RWJF Center for Health Policy at UNM. My personal and academic experiences have been enriched through our debates, discussions, research collaborations and the sharing of our individual life stories. Thank you for being a part of my life. To my family I offer my sincerest apologies for the sacrifices you were required to bear resulting from my earnest desire to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of New Mexico. Please forgive my self-absorption and self-imposed isolation from you. v Stigmatization and the Re-Articulation of Eugenic Ideology: A Study of Coded Racism in Family Planning Policy from the 1920s to the 1990s By Michael Muhammad B.S., Economics, Florida A & M University, 1989 M.A., Sociology, Cleveland State University, 2009 Ph.D., Sociology, The University of New Mexico, 2014 Abstract This study investigates the use of coded racism in the evolution of fertility control policies from the 1920s to the 1990s. I propose a theory of welfare eugenics that explains stigmatization of the fertility of poor, racial and ethnic minorities through a re-articulation of overtly racist language in terms of cultural symbols, stereotypes, and labels referred to as coded racism. I conduct a discourse analysis of scientific papers presented at the Third International Congress of Eugenics in 1932, and witness testimony from congressional hearings held in the 1920s, 1965 – 1966, and 1995 – 1996 for evidence of eugenic ideology in public discourse about poverty, social welfare, and federal family planning policy. Results from a discourse analysis of the data partially supported a theory of welfare eugenics. The concept of welfare dependency emerged as the primary target of elite political discourse in the 1990s. Welfare dependency is presumed to be a failure of subordinate group members to fully assimilate dominant group traditional values about work ethic, meritocracy, morality, and family creation. These findings lead to a revision of my original theoretical perspective under a new conceptual framework for assimilation eugenics. A theory of assimilation eugenics explains discourse about the termination of the social welfare state as primarily an institutional stigmatization of the entire social welfare system to end the social and cultural reproduction of welfare dependency at the interpersonal level. Findings from this study will be used to advance understanding of how powerful elites adapt subtle forms of racist speech to set an agenda that reproduces structural forms of inequality in social and public policy. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Overview ........................................................................................................... 1 Theory and Methods ........................................................................................ 7 Research Questions ........................................................................................ 9 Purpose of Dissertation ................................................................................. 10 Contribution of Research .............................................................................. 10 Summary of Chapters .................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview .......................................................... 12 Chapter 2: The Socio-Historical Context of Fertility Control: From Eugenics to Family Planning ............................................................... 13 Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework ............................................................... 15 Chapter 4: Research Design and Methods ................................................... 16 Chapter 5: Eugenic Ideology and Policy Applications, 1920–1932: The Social Construction of White Racial Superiority .................................... 18 Chapter 6: Population Crisis, 1965–1966: Demographic Transition and the Expansion of Social Welfare Programs ........................................... 19 Chapter 7: Welfare Reform: Racialized and Gendered Discourses About the Undeserving Poor, 1995–1996 ..................................................... 20 Chapter 8: Towards A Theory of Welfare Eugenics: Findings and Revisions ................................................................................. 20 Chapter 2: The Socio-Historical Context of Fertility Control: From Eugenics to Family Planning .................................................................. 21 From Reform Eugenics To Social Demography .......................................... 25 The Institutionalization of Population Studies: 1920s To 1960s ............... 26 From Malthus To Demography ..................................................................... 29 The Origins of a “Population Crisis” ............................................................ 32 Expansion of the Social Welfare State ......................................................... 33 Welfare Reform and U.S. Family Planning: 1960-1995 ................................ 44 The expansion of public welfare programs under Johnson’s War on Poverty and a summary of milestones in the evolution of U.S. family planning policy from 1960 to 1995 ........................................ 46 Elites and Family Planning: Eugenics Period ............................................. 52 Elites and Family Planning: Population Crisis Period ................................ 53 Elites and Family Planning: Welfare Reform Period ................................... 54 Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework .................................................................. 56 Eugenics and Eugenic Ideology ................................................................... 58 Reform Eugenics and Transition Theory ..................................................... 65 vii Alternative Theoretical Perspectives Explaining Family Planning Policies ............................................................................... 71 Race Prejudice and Group Position .............................................................. 72 Racial Formation Theory .............................................................................. 74 Color-Blind Racism ....................................................................................... 77 Matrix of Domination ..................................................................................... 81 A Theory of Welfare Eugenics ...................................................................... 82 Chapter 4: Research Design and Methods ..................................................... 87 Data Collection ............................................................................................... 87 Sampling Frame ............................................................................................. 88 Research Design and Method of Analysis ................................................... 90 Outline for Method of Data Analysis and Interpretation of Findings ........ 99 Data Description