February 4, 2025 - 14:29
In Disability History, Kim Nielsen examines how the U.S. has historically sought to protect the "national body" by excluding, institutionalizing, and sterilizing those deemed undesirable - often using eugenics, immigration restrictions, and forced institutionalization. These strategies reveal the deep intersections of ableism, racism, and gender and sexuality discrimination.
For instance, eugenics policies disproportionately targeted disabled individuals, people of color, and those who did not conform to heteronormative gender and sexual norms. Immigration laws like the Immigration Act of 1924 codified racial and disability-based exclusions, reinforcing the idea of a pure national identity. Similarly, forced sterilizations under eugenics programs disproportionately affected women of color, disabled women, and LGBTQ+ individuals, showing how reproductive control was wielded as a tool of oppression.
These strategies persist today in different forms. Contemporary immigration policies continue to exclude disabled and marginalized individuals under the guise of economic burden. Anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans legislation echoes past efforts to regulate gender and sexuality in ways that define who is deemed fit to belong. Ongoing disparities in healthcare, reproductive rights, and incarceration further demonstrate how ableism, racism, and gender/sexuality discrimination remain deeply intertwined in maintaining social hierarchies.