I was born in North Carolina. I’m 2 years younger than Elaine Riddick, who after she was raped and bore the rapist’s child, was deemed “promiscuous” by the state of North Carolina and was ordered to be sterilized:
My guess is that many of the same people who opposed abortion in 1968 also were in favor of forced sterilization of 14 year-old black girls. Now that these civil rights violations are being exposed 40 years too late, North Carolina is “considering” a payment of compensation for this state sanctioned crime. How Much? A whopping $20,000! Of course, that assumes the North Carolina legislature, filled with compassionate conservatives will actually pass a law approving the payments.
What happened to Riddick in North Carolina happened to more than 60,000 people in 32 states, from the 1920’s to the 1970s under state-sanctioned sterilization programs aimed at cutting welfare costs.
“The people who were the focus of this movement were the dispossessed of society,” says Paul Lombardo, of Georgia State University’s College of Law. “In some cases, simply people of color.”
North Carolina is the first state to consider making amends with a cash payment – $20,000 for each victim.
America, greatest country on earth! Hell yeah! Just don’t ask people like Elaine Riddick to stand up and cheer as loudly as Sarah Palin’s “Real Americans.” Not even if she gets her measly $20,000.
