At the Heart of it All?: Discourses on the Reproductive Rights of African American Women in the 20th Century

262 Pages·2019·2.294 MB·English

by  Anne Overbeck

Anne Overbeck
At the Heart of It All?
Family Values and Social
Change
Edited by
Isabel Heinemann
Volume 4
Anne Overbeck
At the Heart
of It All?
Discourses on the Reproductive Rights of African
American Women in the 20th Century
ISBN 978-3-11-037977-8
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-039943-1
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-039954-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018958023
Bibliografic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutschen Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliografic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Typesetting: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
For my parents

Acknowledgements
The final reward of a finished dissertation is that one gets to write the acknowl-
edgements. It is a chance to thank all the people that made the project possible
and to focus on what the writing process really is – a communal process. Despite
the popular image of the lone poet in the attic: in reality, it takes a village to write
a book. The following are several of my fellow villagers:
First of all, I would like to thank Isabel Heinemann. This book would never
have been possible without her guidance and encouragement. She is one of the
few people that have mastered the art of productive criticism and trust in her
team. The working environment she created was one where thoughts and ideas
could truly flourish. My second doctoral advisor, Corinna Unger, provided invalu-
able advice on my writing process and generously shared her expertise whenever
needed. I will remember her skill of asking questions never to prove a point, but
to enhance my argument.
I am very much indebted to the Emmy-Noether-Programm of the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), which provided funding for the research under-
taken in Germany and the US.
I am very grateful to the Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte
in Berlin, especially Christine von Oertzen, for giving me the chance to spend
a couple of months in blissful seclusion in Dahlem with the library right at my
doorstep and brilliant peers to discuss my ideas with.
I am truly thankful for Jürgen Overhoff’s encouragement and guidance during
the final phase of this project. I would like to especially thank him for reminding
me of the beauty of writing and the value of research.
In addition, I would like to thank: Claudia Roesch for her stoic discipline and
brilliant analytical skills, which she was always happy to share with the team; my
always cheery colleagues Tim Zumhoff and Andreas Oberdorf whose enthusiasm
for the academe and appreciation for the exchange of ideas I can only admire;
Kerstin Wölki for reiterating time and time again that only a finished disserta-
tion is a good dissertation; Anja Bassimir for last and first minute help whenever
needed; Judith Mohrmann and Franziska Walter for their proofreading skills and
academic enthusiasm; and Marko Müller for his ability to listen and structure my
chaotic thoughts.
Finally, I would like to thank my uncle, Karl-Theo Thomaka, who has sup-
ported me throughout my entire academic career, and my parents, Hans und Elfie
Overbeck, who taught me the love of books, stories, and histories at a very early
age. Without their encouragement, patience, and love, my life and this book would
not be the same.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110399431-202

Contents
Acknowledgements   VII
List of Figures   XIII
List of Abbreviations   XV
Introduction   1
1 Concepts and Terminology   2
2 S tate of Research   6
3 Theoretical Framework   14
4 Chapter Overview   19
1 “ After All, a Woman is Biologically a Child Factory” – Eugenics and the
Debate on Family Planning for African Americans in the 1920s and Early
1930s   23
1.1 Historical Background   25
1.2 “ The Negro Represents an Intrinsically Inferior Type of Humanity” –
African Americans as an Inferior Race and Measures of Negative
Eugenics   28
1.3 “ We Negroes of Pride Discovered the Theory of Race Purity Long
before Hitler” – African Americans as a Superior Race   34
1.4 “ The Negro Issue” – Eugenics and the American Birth
Control League   38
1.5 T he “Talented Tenth” and “Better Baby Contests” – Debates
on Positive Eugenics for the Black Community   43
1.6 “ I for One Do Not Intend to Contribute Any to the Cause.” – African
American Women Voices   48
1.7 Summary   52
2 “Tomorrow’s Families” – Modernization Discourses and the Changing
View on African American Women   55
2.1 Cultural Anthropology and Modernizing Discourses   57
2.2 M atriarchs in the Making – Research on Motherhood from the 1930s
to the early 1950s   62
2.3 “ What Do I Know About Negro Programs Anyway” – The Birth Control
Federation of America and the Foundation of the Negro Division   72
X   Contents
2.4 B lack Women’s Organization Turn Their Attention
to Birth Control   83
2.5 Summary   87
3 “The Zero Population Growth Game” – Debating Black Motherhood
in the Age of Population Control   91
3.1 “ Hunger U.S.A.” – The Overpopulation Debate and the Liberal
Discourse on Birth Control for African American Women   94
3.2 “ Space Minus Opportunity (…) Spells Violence” – “Population
Pressure” and Birth Control for African American Women   101
3.3 “ We Charge Genocide” – Birth Control and the Genocide
Debate   105
3.4 “ Keep Your Family the Right Size!” – Advise Columns on Black
Reproduction in the Black Press   125
3.5 Summary   129
4 “A National Effort [to Establish] a Stable Negro Family Structure” –
Poverty, Illegitimacy, and Black Motherhood in the 1960s   131
4.1 M aking Motherhood Immoral – Changes in Aid for Families with
Dependent Children and the Moynihan Report   133
4.2 F orced, Coerced, Sought After – Sterilization Practices in the 1950s
and 1960s   153
4.3 Summary   164
5 In Sickness and in Health – Discussing Reproductive Rights in the Age
of Crack, AIDS, and Women’s Health   167
5.1 “ The Enemy Within” – African American Motherhood and the ‘‘Crack
Baby Crisis’’   168
5.2 “ Her Husband is an IV-Drug User” – Black Motherhood
and HIV/AIDS   185
5.3 “ Being Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired” – Black Health
Activism in the 1980s   191
5.4 Summary   210
Conclusion and Outlook   213
1 C ontinuities and Changes in the Discourse on Reproductive Rights
of African American Women in the 20th Century   214