The Injustices Many Black Women In DC Face: Similar To Life During Nazi Germany
After reading about the suffering of Jewish people during the Holocaust I found similarities between their living conditions in the ghettos under Hitler and Nazis and the living conditions of black women in the nation’s capital, and around the country. These similarities were extermination, concentration camps, chemical warfare, terrorism, propaganda, forced labor, and diseases. Interestingly enough, Hitler and the Nazi’s were influenced by how America was already working towards exterminating black people.
It is worth noting that black people were exterminated in the Holocaust under Hitler as well. Some were sterilized and put in concentration camps. Their children were also sterilized.
Extermination:
After slavery, America had no use for black people. They were no longer the source of free labor and many white elitists believed that there were going to be many financial consequences of blacks being freed. Extermination was put in place. After the Civil War, former slaves in Natchez, Mississippi were rounded up and placed into concentration camps, in which 10,000–20,000 black people died. White elitists knew they could not possibly kill off all black people so they came up with another idea. This idea was to send black people back to Africa, under a movement called colonization. The idea eventually failed, so they decided to create eugenics, which was a movement created to exterminate blacks discretely. Eugenics targeted the body of black women through forced sterilizations and surgeries made on their body without their consent.
Below are quotes from key members of the Eugenics movement.
“Eugenic goals are most likely to be attained under another name than eugenics” -Frederick Osborn, Former Head of the American Eugenics Society
Translation, the extermination of blacks will be under a secret name that is not called eugenics. Due to the global attention on the holocaust, the eugenics movement in America needed a more subtle name. They did not want to be accused of population control so they decided to pick a name without the word “control” in it. In 1942, the American Birth Control League was changed to Planned Parenthood. The founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, said,
“The eugenic and civilization of birth control is becoming apparent to the enlightened and the intelligent …the campaign for birth control is not merely of eugenic value, but is practically identical in ideal with the aim of eugenics”
In other words, the goal of birth control is to exterminate black people.
She also once said,
“I consider that the world and almost our civilization, for the next 25 years will depend upon simple, cheap, safe contraceptive to be used in poverty stricken slums, jungles, and among the most ignorant people. Even this will not be efficient, because I believe that now, immediately there should be national sterilization for certain dysgenic types of our population who are being encouraged to breed and would die out were the government not feeding them”
These next three quotes are from the eugenicist, Gunnar Myrda, in 1944. He wrote a book called An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, that discussed how America should exterminate black people.
“The only way possible of decreasing negro population is by means of controlling fertility” (pg 170)
“All White Americans agree that, if the Negro is to be eliminated, he must be eliminated slowly, so as not to hurt any living individual Negroes.”(pg.168)
“Birth control facilities could be extended relatively more to Negroes than whites, since Negroes are more concentrated in lower income and education classes since they now know less about modern techniques of birth control” (pg. 176)
“They must not have too easy access to relief or hospital treatment lest the removal of the last check on natural selection should make it too easy for children to survive”- Eugenicist, Julian S. Huxley 1941
I think the last quote should be emphasized.
“They must not have too easy access to relief or hospital treatment lest the removal of the last check on natural selection should make it to easy for children to survive”
A eugenicist began calling for birth control to be injected into the water supply in urban neighborhoods. This plan was advocated for at a 1969 United Nations meeting. It is alarming and makes you think, considering the fact that for the last few decades, black neighborhoods have contained high rates of toxic chemicals such as lead, which is deadly for babies. Based off the quotes, it should be clear that the eugenics movement in America was created to exterminate black people. Up until the 1970’s black women were sterilized against their will. I believe black women should have control over what they decide to do with their body, but at the same time, there should be awareness about racism within family planning organizations. As it will be shown through out the article, nearly every aspect from Jim Crow still exists. That being said, it is safe to say, that an organization created to exterminate blacks, (which still operates in black neighborhoods) is still exterminating black babies and targeting the body of black women in 2018.
The racial component within family planning and health care is a possible factor as to why Black women have the highest rates of maternal mortality rates. Black women are 243 % more likely to die from pregnancy related births than white women. Black women in D.C. have the highest rates of maternal mortality rates in America. Maternal mortality rates affect black women all over the country. The studies show that poverty is not the main factor to blame for these high death rates, it is racial discrimination, and the stress that it brings about. College educated black women were three times more likely to lose their infant, than white women with similar educational background. A wealthy black woman with an advanced degree is more likely to die during pregnancy or lose her baby than a poor white woman without a high school diploma.The international black tennis player, Serena Williams, almost died from her pregnancy. She wrote an article about the epidemic of black women not being believed about their pain and how it is killing them.
As mentioned earlier, lead poisoning also causes miscarriages and still births. Black women and their babies are more likely to be exposed to lead poisoning, which means, lead poisoning is more likely to kill black babies.
Concentration Camps:
As soon as Africans arrived in America in 1619 , where they could go or live was controlled. From 1619–1865, black people were forced to be on concentration camps where they did slave labor. In the South, this would continue until the 1960’s. Yes the 1960’s.
As blacks migrated up north, seeking equality and fleeing from terrorism, their locations would be controlled as well.
In the early 1900’s the mayor of Baltimore said that “Black people should be quarantined in isolated slums.” Margaret Sanger advocated for 15–20 million people to be sterilized and put on concentration camps by force.
In the 1930’s the American Government would officially fund the systematic effort to isolate and concentrate blacks in slums. Congress created the Federal Housing Administration(FHA) in 1934. Between the 1930's through the 1960's, black people across the country were prevented from buying homes and moving out of these slums. This was done through bombings, lynchings, and the policy called “redlining.” The Fair Housing Center of Boston, defines redlining as, “the practice of denying or limiting financial services to certain neighborhoods based on racial or ethnic composition without regard to the residents’ qualifications or creditworthiness.” The FHA would color the black neighborhoods on maps,red, as a way to show that loans should not be given to those neighborhoods. This was done to prevent loans and other resources from going out to the black community. A 1943 brochure from the National Association of Real Estate Board included a list of people to prevent from buying homes in certain neighborhoods. One of the groups of people included on that list was “a colored man of means who was giving his children a college education and thought they were entitled to live among whites.” Historically, owning your own home has been the “American Dream.” It has been one of the main ways to build wealth in America. During the same time when black families were being denied the opportunity to build wealth for themselves, the FHA handed out 120 billion dollars through social programs to mainly white families in order for them to receive loans for homes. These government handouts helped launch millions of white Americans into the middle class.
To this day housing segregation still exists. A 2012 study done by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Urban Institute, reported that real estate agents showed blacks and latinos fewer homes and properties than whites. In D.C. black people are shown 20 percent fewer homes and properties than whites. The study also showed that blacks and latinos were shown homes and properties in only certain neighborhoods. A study from 2018 confirmed this as well. Despite being banned 50 years ago, redlining is still affecting blacks and other minorities.
Urban Renewal
“M]ost Northern cities are now engaged…in something called urban renewal, which means moving the Negroes out. It means Negro removal, that is what it means.”- James Baldwin
By 1950, the government sponsored process of urban renewal, tore down and destroyed many black homes and businesses. Many black families were displaced and had to live in the housing projects. D.C. was not exempt from urban renewal.
Before the 1950’s Southwest, D.C. was home to an affluent black community, where blacks owned their own homes and businesses. The Federal government decided that it had the right to seize property to better the community. These homes and businesses were torn down and thousands upon thousands of blacks residents were displaced.
Now that we know that black women and black people are systematically isolated into areas, let’s see how they are systematically poisoned in those neighborhoods.
Chemical Warfare: Systematically Poisoning Black Women
“If you were going to put something in a population to keep them down for generations to come, it would be lead.”- Dr. Mona Hannah-Attisha
Through out the history of public housing it has been very profitable to neglect repairs to the housing. In 1889, WEB Dubois, one of the most influential black sociologists in history, wrote in his book, The Philadelphia Negro, “The Negro finds it extremely difficult to rear children in such an atmosphere and not have them either cringing or impudent.” One hundred and twenty nine years later, this “atmosphere” is still harming black children.
The less money the landlord has to spend on repairs the more profit the landlord makes. This exploitation is why residents in DC complain of water damage, lack of plumbing, leaks, mold, rats, mice, roaches, and lead poisoning. These toxins are extremely harmful to the brain and body. Lead poisoning permanently removes the gray matter from a child’s brain. It also damages a person’s executive functions and cognitive abilities, causes impulsivity, reduces IQ, and causes behavior problems. Dr. Mona Hannah-Attisha, who was one of the doctors who helped expose the lead poisoning scandal in Flint, Michigan, said, “If you were going to put something in a population to keep them down for generations to come, it would be lead”
According to a study done by Lancet Public Health, lead kills 400,000 people a year. Black people, specifically black children, are more likely to be exposed to high levels of lead than white people and white children. To put this into perspective, guns killed 33, 600 people in 2016. Black children are disproportionately being poisoned by a chemical that kills more people than guns.
Scientist said the D.C. Water Crisis of the early 2000’s was 20–30 times worse than Flint, Michigan.
Virginia Tech Environmental engineer named Marc Edwards, said “People don’t realize this — the extent of the problem in D.C. was about 20 to 30 times larger than Flint,”
“There was more lead poisoning, more exposure of people.”
Lead poisoning and the water crisis in DC still exists today.
A must watch clip of the living conditions in the public housing project called, Montana Terrace in N.E., D.C. below.
In this same neighborhood, and the adjacent neighborhood, Langdon Park, there is a toxic waste facility that is releasing deadly chemicals into the air. This neighborhood has been complaining for the last 30 years, but city officials have refuse to get it shut down.
Chemical Warfare continued:
The U.S. government knowingly allowed the deadly drug called Crack Cocaine to flood predominantly impoverished black neighborhoods. Crack cocaine destroyed the lives,minds, and neighborhoods of black people. It still goes on today. It was confirmed that people affiliated with the CIA were involved in bringing drugs to the black neighborhoods of America. The U.S. government was aware of this.
D.C. was not exempt from the Crack Epidemic
Vera Sharav, a Holocaust survivor, wrote about the modern day Black genocide in the following article on Robert Kennedy Jr.’s website: World Mercury Project. https://worldmercuryproject.org/news/vaccine-program-betrayal-public-trust-institutional-corruption-part-6-7/
The report above showed that black boys who received a vaccine before 36 month were at increased risk for autism, but this data was destroyed by doctors and kept hidden from the public.
Terrorism :
The American government’s armed forces systematically terrorize Black women in low-income neighborhoods. In the 1960’s the civil rights movement and black rebellions against genocide in America scared the establishment. These rebellions were similar to the uprisings that Jewish people carried out in their ghettos against the Nazi’s. The FBI launched a program to terrorize black american’s who chose to speak up against their mistreatment and change their communities. This program was called Cointelpro. Many Black women like Angela Davis and Assata Shakur were harassed, beaten, or shot for speaking up. For those interested in how the FBI specifically declared a war against black Americans who stood up against injustice and still do today, click the link below.
In the 90’s in D.C., an activist turned Mayor, Marion Barry, was set up on drug charges. Despite what the media has said about him, his drug use is no where nearly as bad politicians who bomb countries. The country just honored one the other day, George H.W Bush. As soon as black people in D.C. began getting political power, the Federal Government started stripping away authority from the local government in D.C. Marion Barry was removed of his authority over every important agency in D.C. He unfortunately passed away a few years ago, but he was one of the last politicians in D.C. that truly stood for black women and black people, hence the name “Mayor for Life”
In 1971 the Nixon administration declared another terrorist operation against black people, called the War on Drugs. A member from the administration admitted that the War on Drugs, was simply an excuse to wage a War against the black community and to destroy the civil rights movement.
The very first SWAT team in American history, was used in L.A. against the civil rights organization, the Black Panthers. In D.C. there is a paramilitary operation called “Jump Outs”. It is when police officers in plain clothes and unmarked cars go into black neighborhoods and “jump-out” with guns drawn on and harass black citizens. This is terrorism. To read more about “jump-outs” in DC read below.
These armed forces systematically abuse and terrorize black women.
Video of the arrest of a Black Grandmother.
Besides police terrorism, Black women are victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and sex trafficking at a higher rate than other races of women, except Native American women.
Black women and black girls are being snatched up off the street, never to be seen again. There are over 64,000 black women missing in America.
Sexual assault alters a person response to stress, causing some victims to hyper-react when faced with situations that may seem small to others. The chemical change from the trauma, makes it hard for some survivors to calm down during stressful situations, making it seem as if the person is being dramatic or overreacting. This is PTSD.
Long term effects of sexual assault: headaches; asthma attacks; rapid breathing leading to panic at- tacks; cardiovascular problems; muscle tension, hypertension; inflammation of the circulatory system; higher cholesterol levels; increased epinephrine and cortisol levels; adrenal fatigue; insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes; heartburn; gastrointestinal distress; irritable bowel syndrome; erectile dysfunction; irregular, painful, or absent menstruation; increased menopausal hot flashes; and reduction in sexual libido.
Black Women are literally suffering in silence but carrying weight similar to some war-veterans with PTSD.
Many black women are living in war-torn communities, that were created by racist policies. Like any war -torn community there will be trauma.
PTSD affects a child’s ability to learn and do well in school. If a child living in the inner city is not able to do well in school, they will not be able to get out of their environment. Poor academic performance also makes them at risk for crime and violence.
Not only do black women have to deal with the trauma they go through daily, but they also have to deal with family trauma they didn’t even experience.
Dr. Rachel Yehuda, professor of psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, did research on epigenetics and intergenerational trauma . After testing the genes of the descendants of holocaust survivors, she found out that they were at higher risk for PTSD than the general population. Her research shows that trauma can be inherited and passed down. This means that the trauma for slavery and jim crow has been passed down from generation to generation amongst black americans. Racial terrorism such as lynchings and bombings are only a little over 50 years ago. Many black women alive today grew up during that time period.
Propaganda : Hitler used propaganda as a way to make Germany complicit with exterminating Jewish people. Propaganda has been used against black women since slavery and it still continues to this day. Stereotypes in movies, TV shows, and music helps perpetuate the dehumanization of black women. Dehumanization allows justification for the abuse of black women.
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-46640-004
Forced Labor: Black women who have have been victims of mass incarceration, are also ordered to do labor, while in prison.
Starvation: Up until the 1960’s job discrimination was more blatant under the Wagner Act, (continued until the 1970’s) and Jim Crow. Job discrimination still continues to this day. A study done by Northwestern University, Harvard University, and the Institute of Research in Norway confirmed this. The study contained 42,708 applicants with equal qualifications, credentials, and resumes. The results were that despite equal qualifications, white people were 36% more likely than blacks to receive call backs from jobs.
D.C. has one of the highest rates of black unemployment in the country.
Another way the government systematically kept black people in poverty was breaking up black families. The government began breaking up black families during slavery. They did this by selling black male slaves away from their wives and children.This continued for over 300 years. Fast forward the 1960’s, black women were getting married at a higher rate than white women. Policies by the government then forced many black men out of their homes. Due to Jim Crow, black men were subjected to mainly low paying menial jobs, or outright job discrimination, which kept them locked in poverty. The new welfare policy gave aid out to black families only if the father was not present in the house. Faced with a decision of staying with their kids and letting them starve, or leaving and allowing them to have food on the table, many decided to leave so their children could have food to eat. This created a cycle of fatherlessness in the black community.
Today over 70 percent of black children are raised in a household with out their father. As we know, it’s not just welfare that helped destroy the black family. The War on Drugs/Mass Incarceration has separated millions of black families as well.
Video below titled , “Elders explain how the welfare system forced black fathers out of their household”
Around the time the American government was destroying the black community with the War on Drugs and mass incarceration, President Ronald Reagan, kicked off a campaign to starve off black women and kill black children.
A million children lost reduced-price school lunches, 600,000 people lost Medicaid, and a million lost food stamps. More than 250 community health centers were closed. Between 1980 and 1991, 309 rural hospitals and 294 urban hospitals were closed. It is worth noting that nearly one million Native Americans lost access to Indian Health Service care.
Reagan cut funding for public service jobs and job training, almost got rid of federally funded legal services for the poor, and cut the antipoverty Community Development Block Grant program. One of Reagan’s biggest reduction in funding was public housing, in which the funding was cut in half his first year. This helped lead to an increase in homeless people, which by the late 1980's had grown to 600,000 on any given night — and 1.2 million throughout the course of a year. Many were Vietnam veterans, children and laid-off workers.
From 1996–2010 the number of welfare recipients dropped from 12.3 million to 4.4 million.
The historical and current acts of oppression by the American government, is why black people are more likely to suffer from hunger and poverty.
D.C. has had some of the highest rates of child hunger in the country.
Death and Diseases
“In fact, for blacks, racism is a primary factor. Even when you control for economics, blacks have poorer health. That is, middle-class blacks suffer poorer health than middle-class whites. In fact, middle-class whites live ten years longer than middle-class blacks, while poor whites live only three years longer than poor blacks. Furthermore, the stress of living in a discriminatory society accounts for the racial health disparities.”
In conclusion it is a fact that the U.S. government has funded the extermination and forced sterilization of black women. Between extermination, concentration camps, chemical warfare, terrorism, starvation, diseases, and forced labor, black women indeed live in similar conditions as Jewish people did in Nazi Germany.
What are the solutions? Within the last year and a half Congressman Bobby Scott proposed the bill HR1242, that would give out grants to black communities in America. The bill was created to celebrate the fact that black Americans have been in America for 400 years. Donald Trump signed this bill. Clearly black women are under attack from so many directions, but its possible to make a dent in those issues.
- The system is killing black women
- Stress and trauma imposed by the system, is killing black women.
What we can do now: Due to this state of emergency, black women should have free unlimited access, to any spa in D.C. Black women need and deserve access to stress free environments. Black women are dying from their disproportionate exposure to chronic stress and trauma. Spa’s help alleviate stress and relax the mind and body. The bill HR 1242 could help make this happen. To ensure that black women have free unlimited access to day spas in D.C., please click on and sign the petition below. Thanks!
Long Term : Petition calling for the immediate end of chemical weapons being used against black women in their neighborhoods. Immediate closings of toxic waste facilities that poison black women. Immediate repairs to neglected homes.