ipl-logo

Violations In Imbeciles

413 Words2 Pages

Violations of human rights seem to occur regardless of the foundations put in place to help prevent such acts due to self-indulgence. In Imbeciles, a novel written by Adam Cohen, the 1927 court case of Carrie Buck, the events preceding and following were further analyzed. Eugenics, itself, on the surface appears in present day to be an obvious violation of human rights; however, Buck's case was much more complex. Not only was sterilization violating her right of a family, but also violating her right of consent as well as the right to a fair trial. Though unaware what was occurring, Buck, under false evidence, was labeled feeble-minded and made the guinea pig for the government to legally be able to continue carrying out violations of human …show more content…

Born out of wedlock of a seventeen-year-old to a woman, Emma Buck, who was labeled feebleminded, Carrie Buck became the perfect candidate for the state of Virgina's fight for eugenics (7). Being the child of a woman in Virginia's Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded, would not have been enough to put her in the spotlight. However, after having been adopted by John and Alice Dobbs that merely looked at Buck as someone to complete the household chores, she became pregnant. Becoming pregnant out of wedlock, like her mother, could result in being placed in Virginia's Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded. Perhaps the bigger issue was that Buck did not just run of with some man and get pregnant; she was raped by Alice's nephew, Clarence Garland (24). Although she was raped, the embarrassment of having a child was too much for the Dobbs' and they sent a request to Charolette's Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court that she too be sent to the Colony (16). Therefore, there was no just cause for Carrie Buck to even be transferred to such an institution.
Although human rights doctrines, according to Jack Donnelly, were not formed until after World War II when the overlapping consensus of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was published, Buck's situation definitely violated human rights. These rights violations

Show More
Related

Sarah Breedlove Research Papers

1246 Words | 5 Pages

Sarah Breedlove, also known as Madam C.J. Walker, born on December twenty-third of eighteen sixty-seven in Delta, Louisiana. Sarah Breedlove is to be considered lucky as to which she was the first child in her family to be a “free-born” from slavery once her parents were allowed to leave. She lived a tragedy at such an early age of seven with the withdrawal of her parents’ lives in this world. Sarah was then later in the custody of her older sister.

Read More

The Ironic Differences Between Tom Robinson And Steven Avery

435 Words | 2 Pages

The bias and bigotry alive in two communities propelled forward the conviction of two guilt free individuals. There was never any significant correlation between Tom Robinson and Steven Avery, that is until Steven Avery was accused and sentenced for a crime he did not commit; much like the famous character Tom Robinson from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The foundation of such trials, despite baring significant faults, proved strong enough to condemn. Although the Tom Robinson case and the Steven Avery case possess striking differences their resemblances are exceedingly pronounced.

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Margaret Sanger's Speech On Birth Control

534 Words | 3 Pages

Some words Margaret Sanger used include the following: dim, distant, silly, unwelcome, unwanted, unprepared, unknown, exhausted, inefficient, struggle, meaningless, and waste. Including the sentence, “Worry, strain, shock, unhappiness, enforced maternity, may all poison the blood of the enslaved mothers,” provides the negative tone to hint that she does not like the fact that birth control is illegal in the United States. Her habitual word choices is a consequence of where she comes from. Diction reveals things about Sanger’s past and how she reacts and views the present. Margaret Sanger, a memorable and important woman of American history, used her determination and emotional influence to appeal to the national birth control committee, and, as a result, created a lasting speech filled with rhetorical

Read More

Tom Robinson's Trial

839 Words | 4 Pages

WOW! To Kill A Mockingbird has been a popular book for many years. The reason for this is it brings out a main theme which was common back then and still happens now. The theme of racism is seen in the book mainly at Tom Robinson's trial. The Ewell family represents the pride that whites had for innocent blacks.

Read More

Gender Inequality In A Midwife's Tale

679 Words | 3 Pages

In her diary, Martha never directly expresses any opinion about the social hierarchy of the society, but she does express her frustration about male doctors complicating her job as a healer (248). In Martha’s Maine, the powerful men were almost above the law and the trial of Mrs. Foster’s rape shows how hard it was for women to take any action against their abusers. In that men dominated society, as a midwife, Martha’s testimony about the paternity of a child was important as it was common practice to ask “unwed mothers to name the father of their child during pregnancy” (149). It was based on an old English law as were many other laws in early America. Despite being a citizen of the USA, Martha were not able to vote, serve in jury or acquire property for herself.

Read More

Margaret Sanger The Children's Era Summary

1073 Words | 5 Pages

Trying to prevent neglected children and back-alley abortions, Margaret Sanger gave the moving speech, “The Children’s Era,” in 1925 to spread information on the benefits and need for birth control and women's rights. Margaret Sanger--activist, educator, writer, and nurse--opened the first birth control clinic in the United States and established organizations that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. During most of the 1900’s, birth control and abortions were illegal in the United States, causing women to give birth unwillingly to a child they must be fully responsible for. This caused illness and possible death for women attempting self-induced abortion. Sanger uses literary devices such as repetition and analogies

Read More

Linda Villarosa Under The Skin Sparknotes

711 Words | 3 Pages

Many of the eugenicists believed that certain racial and socioeconomic groups were more prone to degeneracy with criminal-like behaviors. Villarosa argued that these were the same attitudes that shaped family planning workers’ decision to target Minnie Lee and Mary Alice Relf for permanent contraception. The Relf sisters came from poor family and were living in public housing, which made them vulnerable to coercive sterilization. Villarosa allows history to help us understand the reproductive violence that the Relf sisters and other females suffered. She explains that forced sterilization was a common practice in the United States during the

Read More

Margaret Sanger The Children's Era Speech Analysis

520 Words | 3 Pages

The argument over a woman’s right to choose over the life of an unborn baby has been a prevalent issue in America for many years. As a birth control activist, Margaret Sanger is recognized for her devotion to the pro-choice side of the debate as she has worked to provide sex education and legalize birth control. As part of her pro-choice movement, Sanger delivered a speech at the Sixth International Neo-Malthusian and Birth Control Conference in March of 1925. This speech is called “The Children’s Era,” in which she explains how she wants the twentieth century to become the “century of the child.” Margaret Sanger uses pathos throughout her speech as she brings up many of the negative possibilities that unplanned parenthood can bring for both children and parents.

Read More

Human Rights In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

132 Words | 1 Pages

There are many human rights in "Of Mice And Men." Some rights include right to economic opportunity. A right to a fair wage, and a right to medical assistance for those with special needs. I think the author's main message was the right to be treated equal even if mentally disabled. " A guys goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.

Read More

Good People And Hills Like White Elephants: A Comparative Analysis

970 Words | 4 Pages

I am reminded of two sisters who found themselves in a similar situations to Jig and Sheri, with an unwanted pregnancy. The eldest of the two, in a relationship with man with the attributes of the American and the youngest with a man with the attribute of Lane Jr. The youngest decided not to have the baby because of her desire to follow her career path, as I believe Sheri did in "Good People". The Eldest chose to carry and have the baby despite the odds stacked against her, as I believe Jig did in "Hills Like White Elephants", they both were faced with a decision that would affect the remainder of their lives. The younger would wonder what it would have been like to raise and see the progression on the child she so willingly aborted and the eldest knowing that she made not only the right decision but also the best decision, to allow life to come forth because of love, which may be rocky but it is still

Read More

Intellectual Disability In The Novel 'Of Mice And Men'

1355 Words | 6 Pages

“Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community” (Nelson Mandela). Prior to the later part of the 20th century people with intellectual disabilities were often ridiculed, treated unfairly, feared, and locked away in institutions. According to Rhonda Nauhaus and Cindy Smith in their article Disability Rights through the Mid-20th Century, The laws of any nation reflect its societal values. The real life issue of discrimination towards people with intellectual disabilities in the United States and Australia is demonstrated in the novel, Of Mice and Men by showing how this issue affects one of the main characters, Lennie Smalls.

Read More

Summary Of A Defense Of Abortion Judith Thomson

1070 Words | 5 Pages

In “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Thomson argues with a unique approach regarding the topic of abortion. For the purpose of the argument, Thomas agrees to go against her belief and constructs an argument based on the idea that the fetus is a person at conception. She then formulates her arguments concerning that the right to life is not an absolute right. There are certain situations where abortion is morally permissible. She believes that the fetus’s right to life does not outweigh the right for the woman to control what happens to her own body.

Read More

Symbolism In Mark Twain's Pudd Nhead Wilson

1335 Words | 6 Pages

“Motherhood is somewhat difficult for a slave like Roxy because children of slave women were legally slaves, regardless of the status of their fathers” (Rasmussen 199). Although her love for her child is unceasing, it is her decisions that, eventually, bring him into

Read More

Sallie Tisdale's View Of Abortion

530 Words | 3 Pages

Earlier in the text, Tisdale explains the reasons why women get abortions, “Women have abortions because they are too old, too young, too poor, and too rich, too stupid, and too smart” (Tisdale 382). As the quote suggests, there is conflicting reasons for abortions. Once again suggesting that abortion is a very complex topic, that must be looked at without such a black and white

Read More

Women's Reproductive Rights

1329 Words | 6 Pages

Women’s rights have been a long struggle in America’s legal system, as well as in the religious world, for many decades and women continue to have challenges, concerns, and struggles today. Fighting for what is best for their bodies such as a woman’s right to contraceptives to control whether she will get pregnant or not was not ideal for religious and personal reasons but would find a worthy advocate in a woman who would dedicate her life for women’s reproductive rights. The right for a woman to have an abortion became a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Courts in a very well-known case. It has always been a double standard in what was right and wrong, moral or immoral, towards women than men. A man was looked at with respect

Read More

More about Violations In Imbeciles

Related Topics

Open Document