Black History Month: A History of Black American’s Reproductive Justice
Reproductive Justice
Defined as “The human right to maintain bodily autonomy, to have children, not have children, and parent the ones we have in safe and sustainable communities,” reproductive justice includes access to quality affordable healthcare, access to proper nutrition, feelings of physical safety, safe and affordable housing, environmental safety, & adoption equality. All of these things have an effect on a person and a community's ability to make safe and sustainable choices for both them and their children.
Pre-Colonization
Most modern Black Americans descend from East and South African peoples. The social conditions and standards around reproduction varied by kingdom, tribe, and social status. Some societies were matrilineal like the Bantu-speaking peoples. Some were patrilineal, like the Khoikholin, and Cushitic peoples. Many practiced polygamy and same-sex marriages could be found among the Langi, Yoruba, and others. Maternal death and infant deaths were common, as the case often was in ancient times. Birth control methods including periodic abstinence, withdrawal, breastfeeding, herbs, and more were used.
Slavery Factsheet
Gynecology
J. Marion Sims, often named as the “Father of Gynecology” gained his prestige and wealth from experimental operations he carried out on enslaved women. They endured painful repeated genital operations against their will, with no anesthesia, between 1845 and 1849 in a hospital behind his house. Modern Gynecology has its roots in slavery.
Commodification
Holes would be dug in the ground to house pregnant slaves’ bellies while they were being whipped. The fertility of slave women was very valuable. This is why when self-managed abortions were performed by slaves, or sometimes even after miscarriages, they were severely punished. not because black life mattered, but because the master lost profits.
Jim Crow
It's important to remind ourselves that Jim Crow laws were enforced not too long ago, during the era of our grandparents. The impact of this extreme form of segregation, where black people were restricted from where they could work, learn, and live, cannot be underestimated. Even in recent memory, black people were not able to provide for their families or communities in peace and safety. Those at the brunt of this were parents and children.
Midwifery Bans
In the emerging field of gynecology white men pushed out black midwives and doctors from the birthing room with propaganda labeling them as unhygienic and dangerous. This led to legislative bans on midwifery, shifting birthing from inter-community care to an industry with racist, subpar standards.
Eugenics and Planned Parenthood
In the early 1900s, a pseudo-science called eugenics aimed to create "better" societies by eliminating the poor, “mentally unfit”, immigrants, and minorities. The founder of Planned Parenthood was a eugenicist. Though her views on black people are debated, she often collaborated with anti-black groups like the KKK. The "Negro Project" was initiated by her to promote population control amongst poor black communities.
Tuskegee Study
Starting in 1932 the US government conducted a decades long study of the effects of syphilis. This was done by targeting men from the black community and infecting them with syphilis without their knowledge or consent. They studies the deterioration of the men's bodies as they were racked by the illness. They also told doctors in the area of the men's names, so they wouldn't treat them with penicillin and “ruin’ the study. The men went on to spread the disease to their wives and sexual partners throughout the greater community in Alabama.
Forced Sterilization
For decades, black women and girls were involuntarily sterilized, often during routine medical visits or after childbirth. North Carolina and Alabama passed laws to sterilize poor women, mostly black, due to the belief they were burdens on government resources. The same day the Civil Rights Act passed, Mississippi also criminalized out-of-wedlock births, targeting black women specifically.
Post-Segregation
A Step Forward: The Black panthers created free breakfast programs to feed underprivileged children.
A Mixed Bag: 2nd Wave Feminism promoted equal pay, financial, sexual and legal equality. However, the unjust murder of preborn children was deemed a legal right.
A Step Backwards: The War On drugs and War on Crime systematically removed black fathers from homes and incarcerated black youth using discriminatory policing practices, drug and crime laws.
