Many towns and cities pride themselves on how welcoming and inclusive they are to our people,

even calling themselves Havens. And yet, they all hide heinous secrets that inevitably reveal themselves.

This is Two Minute Black History, what you didn't learn in school.

Imagine being a young mother with a small child trying to survive in a home for the disabled.

Your fate is in the hands of doctors who believe your very existence is wrong.

What do white doctors do with a black woman they view as flawed, who's already had one child?

They forcefully sterilized her. When we speak of eugenics today, 1930s Germany is what most

imagine. Images of Nazis and the Aryan Brotherhood fill the mind. However, Germany learned all

of their tricks from America. More specifically, they learned from how doctors in the Carolinas

experimented on us.

From 1929 to 1974, North Carolina treated black people, especially black women as lab rats,

sterilizing them without their knowledge or consent. Why? Because white supremacists wanted to

create a race of perfect people. Black men and women, especially those with disabilities,

were far from perfect in their eyes. Today, North Carolina is known as one of the Havens for black

people and black wealth in the country. In fact, many of the cities in the state rank highest in

the nation for black economic success. But was the price those before us paid worth our current riches?

From slavery to forced sterilizations and forced earths,

anti-blackness has tried to find ways to eliminate us. It's so ingrained in mainstream society

that doctors are blind to it. We must continue to fight for ourselves, our bodily autonomy,

and the truth of our history. In order to move towards the future, you've got to look to the past.

This has been Two Minute Black History, a podcast by Push Black. If you enjoyed this episode and

want to show your support, please rate and subscribe to our podcast. Together, let's celebrate

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