STERILIZATION-ANOTHER PARTOF THE PLAN OFBLACK GENOCIDE 10\~w- -~ ., ' ' . - _t;_--\ ~s,_~=r t . 0 . H·o~u~e. °SHI ~ TI-lE BLACK PANTI-lER, SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1971 PAGE 2 STERILIZATION-ANOTHER PART OF THE PLAN OF f;Jti~~~ oF-~dnl&r ., America's poor and minority peo- In 1964, in Mississippi a law was that u ••• • Even my maid said this should ple are the current subject for dis- passed that actually made it felony for be done. She's behind it lO0 percent." cussion in almost every state legis- anyone to become the parent of more When he (Bates) argued that one pur­ latur e in the country: Reagan in Cali- than one "illegitimate" child. Original- pose of the bill was to save the State fornia is reducing the alr eady subsis- ly, the bill carried a penalty stipu- money, it was pointed out that welfare tance aid given to families with children; lation that first offenders would be mothers in Tennessee are given a max­ O'Callaghan in Nevada has already com- sentenced to one to three years in the imum of $l5.00 a month for every child pletely cut off 3,000 poor families with State Penitentiary. Three to five years at home (Themaxim!,(,mwelfarepayment children. would be the sentence for subsequent in Tennesse, which is for a family of However, Tennessee is considering convictions. As an alternative to jail- five or more children, is $l6l.00 per dealing with "the problem" of families in~, women would have had the option of month.), and a minimum of $65.00 with "dependant children" by reducing being sterilized. Pressure from the a month would have to be spent by the or eliminating the very possibility of people caused the sterilization section State to keep a child in a foster home. -~ children for black and poor people. The of the bill to be dropped. However, the The so-called open hearing was closed number of "illegitimate" children State of Mississippi to this day still while Mrs. Willie Pearl Ellis, who is the would be controlled byinvoluntarysteri- can impose a jail sentence upon wo- head of the Memphis Welfare Rights Or- lization of women. men who born more than one "illegiti- ganization, was in the middle of a sen- Specifically, a woman who gives birth mate''child . (Three months in prison is tence. She challenged this, saying, ''I'm to a child outside of this racist society's the maximum penalty). a welfare recipient. If Mr. Bates can marital laws would have to be steri- The modifications of this genocidal propose a bill as to what to do with my lized in order to continue to be able to law were made in the bill after women, life, I think I have a right to question that feed her children by receiving wel- mostly black, came together in Jackson •.•If you're going to sit and make deci­ fare benefits. Sterilization would be the (Mississippi) and exposed as Mrs. sions on how to control my life - and you State's insurance against a large young Fannie Lou Hamer stated, that "six don't live under the same circumstances generation of blacks and other poor out of every ten negro women were - I have a right to ask questions." people swelling the welfare roles. taken to Sunflower City Hospital to be The overall plan of Genocide of Black For approximately the last 65 years, sterilized for no reason at all. Often People by the U.S. Government has been various dysgenic (causing the deterior- the women were not even told that they exposed for some time now. }Vhat we ation of a family line or race, genera- had been sterilized until they were re- must always be conscious of is the tion after generation) sterilization laws leased from the hospital." various manifestations of this plot. We have been introduced and passed in The current bill (House Bill Number deny, some of us, that the history of the states' legislatur es across america. In 20) being proposed in Tennessee will Nazi reign of terror could repeat it­ the last ZS years alone, at least nine absolutely force women to submit to self here and now. We say that we won't states - California, Dela'UXLre, Georgia, sterilization or lose all welfare bene- let it happen. We won't allow ourselves Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, fits. It also grants the State the right to be a part of mass murders, such as North Carolina and Virgina - have pass- at its own discretion to take children occurred in Auschwitz or Dachau. But, ed involuntary sterilization legislation. of welfare recipients from theirnatural under Hitler's rule many women suf- In the late l930' s (during the De- parents and place them in foster homes. fered death and permanent physical ression), records show that at least This bill 'UXLSintroduced by racist damage to themselves and their ojf- 25,000 mothe r.s were sterilized with- freshman Representative Larry Bates, spring under so-called medicalr esear ­ out either their knowledge or permis- a Dixiecrat from Northwestern Ten- ch examinations and operations upon sion. These wereallpoorpeople, mostly nessee, who sits on the General Wel- them, while the insane Hitl er worked blacks. A classic justification for such fare Committee. frenziedly to elimi nate all races of a blatant violation of human rights is Because of the angry protests from people, exceptthe "MasterAryanRace" that sterilization is necessary "to keep black and poor women in Tennessee, or the white, non-Jewish Germans. the· country from being flooded with the State generously allowed a public The U.S. Government does have and criminal and degenerate andweakmind ed hearing to take place on this bill. At will and is enacting its plan to commit elements ." In fact, in some places, this meeting, pig Bates referred to Genocide on Black people . The involun­ sterilization laws have been called welfare mothers as "brood cows", tary steriliz ation of our women, reach­ u eugenic" (relating to improvement of while reading so-called letters of sup- ing into generation after generation is, a race of people by bearing "healthy" port for his plot, specifically a letter unfortunately , just one part of that plan. children) laws. from a Tenness ee mayor which stated ALL PO WER TO THE PEOPLE/ TiiE BLACK PANTiiER , SA1URDAY, MAY 8, 1971 PAGE 3 BLACKMAN FIGHTS EXTRADITION BACKTO B ARBARICARKA NSASPR ISON A 21-year old Black man, Lester instead .. Later , the youth was found Stiggers, is currently incarcerated in hanging in hi.s cello T.1ey said it wa3 the Wayne County Jail in Detroit, Mi­ "suicide", but no one believes it. Les­ chigan, awaiting a decision by Governor ter himself was thro ·.vn into the hole for William Millikan on whether or not he inability to pay off a trusteeo He wa.s will be extradited back to Arkansas. beaten every mo:-ning for a month whae Lester Stiggers escaped from a.:i in the hole. Arkansas prison (over a year ago) Even the pigs themselves admit to the where he was serving a life sentence barbaric treatm ent a:..'ldconditions of the allegedly for murder o A rka..1sa3 Prison System. In 1970, a.."1 He was sentenced to life imprison ­ Arkansas judge sa:.d confi.oeinl'!nt with­ ment after a one day tr ialo He was 15 in an Arkansas prison const ituted "cruel years old when he began serv ing his and unusual punishme1t" o And in 1967, term. Lester spent five years in the 0-regon denied eittradition of a prisoner infamous Arkansas prison system. This back to the State of Ark.ans as, ''because is the same prison system in which of barbarity , cruelty, torture, animal the unmarked graves contami.ng bodies bestia~ity •••and animal viciousness. Ar.­ of prisoners (who had supposedly tried kansa-=, prisons are inst itutions of to escape or who had escaped) were terror, horror and despicable evil/ ' found in 1968. Naturally, Lester is afraid to return He says, ' 'If I go back, I know I wHl to Arkansas. ''They'll say I've tried to be tortured or shot by a trustee. They es(:ape or that the gu:i Wf:nt off acci ­ give the trusrees guns a:.1d they are en ­ dentally. They've said it before, a.id cou r aged to shoot prisoners who mi.gh: they'll do it to, me) because I made cause a litt le troubleo I saw a ~dlling them mad by e ;q,osing them.' ' in a ward where a bla ck man. was shot while playing cards/' As of now the decision rests with Lester spoke of another time when a th~ governor of the Sta:e of Michigan, white Ya r dman wa3 sent into the hole wh~n it should rest with the han1s of the People. Let the People decide! to " mess up" a sixteen year old black LESTF~R STIGGERS kid, and the kid beat him (the Y ardm:1:1) A.LL POWER TO THE PEOPLE BLACKCONSTRUCTION WORKERS STRUGGLE IN BOSTON and training, we wm liberate IF TiiESE DE.\1 \ND', \RE NOT whom had dogs, were posted; and TI1e United Community Con­ MET l\1.MEDT\TELY, N(J WORK three blocks away, over 100 ad­ struction Workers (U. C. C, W.) has every job in the community by whatever means that are ne­ WILL GO ON CNTI-HS O)M.l'vllfN­ ditional pigs were marching in brought the strugg le aroand un­ lTY. columns . The fact that the Boston employment to the forefront in cessary.