Maafa 21 and Planned Parenthood

I really don't yet know what to make of this documentary, Maafa 21 The History of Eugenics in America.  I've watched it several times now and it's so intriguing and I'm surprised it hasn't become viral like so many silly little videos.  Perhaps because it addresses such a serious subject at such length that many people find distasteful or downright disgusting.  Embedded is part 1 of the 13 part series, but I recommend you go directly to the link above and watch them all:

I haven't and probably won't be able to check all the 'facts' in the video.  Of course it has tremendous propaganda value and there may be some misinterpretation of the types of information they present as proof.  One article by Michelle Goldberg in Religion Dispatches, Anti-Choice Doc Aims to Link Reproductive Rights to 'Black Genocide', contends that the documentary is largely propoganda though not all in it is untrue.  Specifically, Goldberg writes that it distorts some claims such as Margeret Sanger being a racist and it perpetrates an outright deception and outrageous distortion about the work of Alva Myrdal, but I'm not sure all of her facts about the rest are entirely accurate either. 



There is also a review in The Liberator Magazine with a few profound observations, including that the film doesn't attempt to document connections between other oppressed groups.  I would go further to claim that other programs such as welfare, minimum wage laws, urban renewal and economic revitalization projects, protections for established businesses, and drug laws all help to take away opportunities from not just black but poor communities in ways that may or may not be unintended by their proponents.  But that is not to say that any of those are a purposeful secret conspiracy. 

As with anything, people from opposing ideologies and with much different purposes often come together out of convenience such as the old analogy that it was Baptists and Bootleggers who brought about the 18th Amendment starting Prohibition and the deadly years that followed.  So sure, racists and eugenicists would support reproductive choice to include both birth control and abortion for bad reasons while others would support it for good reasons.  Indeed, while Maafa 21 makes this appear to be genocide directed primarily at the black community, I would imagine that reproductive choice programs are directed at all poor communities across the globe and all of the purposes are not evil in intent but rather to try to lessen the ravages of nature's answers to uncontrolled exponential population growth such as disease, famine, and wars of competition over scarce resources.

Anyway, with the recent controversy over the budget battles and the outcry over cutting Federal funding support for Planned Parenthood and after hearing the many arguments for and against, I believe everyone with whatever opinion either way or no opinion at all should watch it and keep an open mind.

I've always agreed with the legality of abortion, even while being at odds with the effect being murder.  Most people do not choose such procedures lightly and I would hope not without exploring all available alternate options.  If people with compelling need want to choose such a thing as an option or idiots want to use it for convenience to kill their own progeny and possibly screw up their own fertility then they are the ones to bear the costs of their own decisions.  Abortion is even bigger than just a personal issue, it's a larger family issue and those family values often weigh heavily on a young woman's mind.  Alternatives, such as adoption through state programs may be a preferable option for some, especially those pro-life, but adoption has its own drawbacks which I'm not going to explore here other than to say I can see why others reject it.  While being pro-choice since my opinion has no bearing on the matter in regards to the impacts on individuals making such a decision, I have always steadfastly opposed using public funds to support such procedures, for no one should ever be compelled to support something that may be such an abomination to them and an affront to their personal values and beliefs.

I never really paid much attention to the availability of such procedures or for what purpose.  I just know that to make abortion illegal would just push those who see it as the preferable choice for their own situation to an underground market.  It will not dry up demand and comes with its own set of problems.

I'm off to go watch it again.