eugenics
noun
- a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population, historically by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior and promoting those judged to be superior
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /juːˈd͡ʒɛnɪks/
noun
Etymology: Coined by Francis Galton in 1883. From ἐΰς (eǘs, “good”) + γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “breeding”), “well-bred”, “good in stock”. Parallel to Eugene. By surface analysis, eugenic + -s.
- A social philosophy or practice which advocates the improvement of human hereditary qualities through selective breeding, either by encouraging people with superior genetic qualities to reproduce (positive eugenics), or discouraging people with inferior genetic qualities from reproducing (negative eugenics), or by technological means.
“In keeping with the goals of the new eugenics movement, McCulloch was claiming to offer scientific evidence of the incorrigibility of poor rural whites.”
“The eugenics mania that swept the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to forced sterilizations and the passage of laws in 27 states designed to limit the numbers of those considered genetically unfit: immigrants, Jews, African-Americans, the mentally ill and those deemed “morally delinquent.””