Lecture on the link between eugenics and the control of Black women’s bodies. Dr Sherman is the author of ‘In Search of Purity’.
In our 125th Queen Nzingha lecture, (updated to reflect current US reproductive politics) Dr. Shantella Sherman will explore the science of eugenics and its relation to current theories about Black women’s bodies, including their character, aptitude, morality, and social fitness. We will also link to fashion, beauty and media and Roe vs Wade.
While eugenics has been officially set aside as a pseudo-science, its popular legacy, which includes colourism, body politics, and marriageability, continue to inform how Black women and girls are viewed nearly 150 years later. Few people understand how pervasive eugenics is, or how it has been integrated into popular films and television series for decades.
From the lament of turn-of-the-century scholars like Robert Shufeldt who proclaimed the Black woman “naturally immoral, immodest, and primed for carnal intercourse before reaching puberty,” to the purity myths documented by present-day researchers that render Black women genetically incapable of being proper wives, mothers, and citizens — Black women have become the standard-bearers of dysgenicism.
Eugenics positioned Black women as natural breeders of poverty, crime, mental and intellectual weakness, and national impurity. This lecture uncovers the roots of Black dysgenicism within biological theories of savage inheritance, criminality, sexual deviance, and disease that now saturate American popular culture in news broadcasts, film, music, and television.
This is an online lecture via Zoom. Link will be supplied via registration please check junk mail
About the Nzingha lecture series: Queen Nzinga was an African Queen who fought against the European invasion of southern Africa (Congo/Angola). The Queen Nzinga lecture series feature African female academics / holders of expert knowledge, speaking on topics of their choice. The Nzinga lecture series provide a regular platform for women of African descent to highlight important issues in an academic setting.
More Online Events Listings MORE
Black Genealogy | DNA Testing and African, American and Caribbean Ancestry
Join the genealogy masterclass with Paul Crooks as he explores the strengths and weaknesses of tracing African origins…
Tracing Your Ancestry | Emancipation and the Slave Compensation Records
Paul Crooks explores reparations through the lens of his ancestry research drawing on his research into the 1834…
Black Ancestry | Tracing Ancestors Back to the 1860s
Paul Crooks is a seminal figure in African Caribbean genealogy, initiating vital research in the 1990s. His groundbreaking…
Colorism Origins | Secrets of the 1817 Slave Registers
Paul Crooks from Ancestry Talks will provide insight into the roots of colorism, stemming from his research into…
Fostering with Bromley information session – August 2024
A free and informal online session to learn more about becoming a foster carer and fostering with Bromley….
Black Ancestry | Tracing Ancestors Back to Early 1800s
Paul Crooks is a pivotal figure in the field of African Caribbean genealogy, having spearheaded essential research efforts…
Black Ancestry | DNA Testing for African Roots
Join the genealogy masterclass with Paul Crooks as he explores the extent to which DNA testing can help…
Fostering with Bromley information session – September 2024
A free and informal online session to learn more about becoming a foster carer and fostering with Bromley….