American eugenics served as a model for Nazi Germany
Evidence
Eugenics and miscegenation laws once had ridden high; so high, indeed, that they served as a kind of model for Nazi Germany. Now eugenics was denounced as junk science at best, at worst as a cruel excuse for a war by the strong against the weak and the poor. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4293
Categorization
- XREF: Upside-down influence direction is a striking counter-narrative to how Americans usually think of Nazism as purely European — German racial law drew on American precedent. — connects to: American eugenic and sterilization laws inspired German genocide planners; American eugenic sterilization laws preceded and outlasted Nazi-era ones; Eugenics enjoyed international prestige before the Nazis adopted it (+11 more)
- CANDY: That American sterilization and miscegenation law ‘served as a kind of model for Nazi Germany’ is a powerful, discussion-starting reversal of the usual direction of influence.
Broader Connections
- American eugenic and sterilization laws inspired German genocide planners
#corroborates(1.00) - American eugenic sterilization laws preceded and outlasted Nazi-era ones
#corroborates(0.90) - Nazi racial policy was modeled on American white supremacy
#corroborates(0.90) — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 746 - US eugenics law provided the template the Nazis expanded, changing scale not kind.
#corroborates(0.90) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 882 - Nazi eugenics followed mainstream American and European scientific practice, not fringe research
#corroborates(0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1563 - Eugenics enjoyed international prestige before the Nazis adopted it
#corroborates(0.80) - Nazi-era eugenics drew on mainstream scientific and modernist convictions
#corroborates(0.80) - Nazi eugenics emerged from modern scientific planning, not medieval barbarism
#corroborates(0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 397 - Eugenic sterilization advocacy preceded and was independent of antisemitic ideology
#complicates(0.75) - Post-Reconstruction America built a racial apartheid system Nazi Germany copied
#corroborates(0.75) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 157 - Nazi eugenics differed from other nations’ versions only in being implemented
#expands(0.70) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 403 - Genocidal extermination for land theft predated the Nazis
#complicates(0.70) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 886 - Compulsive sterilization continued long after Nazi Germany’s defeat.
#expands(0.70) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 419 - Concentration camps originated in colonial empires, not Nazi Germany
#complicates(0.70) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 881