美国国家公共电台 NPR On A 'Eugenics Registry,' A Record Of California's Thousands Of Sterilizations

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST: 

There's a grim chapter in American history that involves forced sterilization¹. And for much of the last century, California had one of the most active sterilization programs in the country. A state law from 1909 authorized² the surgery for people judged to have, quote, "mental disease which may have been inherited." That law remained on the books until 1979. University of Michigan Professor Alexandra Minna Stern has been working to identify people who were forcibly sterilized³ under California's program.

Welcome.

ALEXANDRA MINNA STERN: Glad to be here.

CHANG: So did you find any patterns among the 20,000 names you discovered?

STERN: We have found a variety of patterns, and we keep discovering more. For example, we have determined⁴ that patients with Spanish surnames were much more likely to be sterilized than other patients, demonstrating that there was a racial bias⁵ in the sterilization program. One of the interesting things we discovered is that initially⁶ more men were sterilized. But by the 1930s, that pattern started to change. So that by the '40s and '50s, more women were being sterilized.

CHANG: So these people that were picked for the sterilization program - they were picked because of so-called, quote, "mental disease which may have been inherited." Can you give us some examples?

STERN: Well, it's very important to take that terminology⁷ with many historical grains of salt. It often meant people who were poor, people who lacked education, perhaps didn't speak sufficient English to make it through school and so on. But what it meant for those who were enacting⁸ the law were people who were determined to have low IQs, people with certain psychiatric disorders⁹. Often, the way it was used was much more as a catch-all category. For example, young girls who are from broken homes - maybe they'd suffered some abuse in their family - they ended up out in the streets, not going to school. They were picked up by juvenile¹⁰ authorities. They would be sent to a girls' home, and then, eventually, they would be sent to a place like the Sonoma State Home, where they would be sterilized.

CHANG: You've determined there may be more than 800 of these people still alive. Have you found anyone who is still alive?

STERN: I haven't found anyone who's still alive. I have been contacted by relatives, particularly people who contacted me whose aunts or uncles were sterilized at some of these institutions. What we've done is we've generated the most reliable estimate. So what we could do is we could go and look at the records - and that's where I'd like to work with the state of California because what we've essentially¹¹ created is a eugenics registry - we can look at the records and identify likely individuals and then reach out and contact them.

However, I would like to mention that in the two states that have enacted¹² policies for monetary¹³ reparations for sterilization victims, in North Carolina and Virginia, the state took the lead in creating a kind of committee and a registry. And because it was the state seeking to provide some redress¹⁴ and to acknowledge this history, the state was able to actively¹⁵ set up a program and seek out and try to identify individuals. It's not that they should come to me, it's that they should go to the state. But our research can help facilitate that process.

CHANG: Alex Stern is a professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor¹⁶.

Thanks very much.

STERN: Thank you.

1 sterilization   

n.杀菌，绝育；灭菌

参考例句：

• Sterilization by filtration is subject to one major theoretical limitation. 过滤灭菌具有一个理论上的局限性。 来自辞典例句
• Sterilization is a treatment that frees the treated object of all living organisms. 灭菌处理是从处理对象排除一切生活的生物。 来自辞典例句

2 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

3 sterilized   

v.消毒( sterilize的过去式和过去分词 )；使无菌；使失去生育能力；使绝育

参考例句：

• My wife was sterilized after the birth of her fourth child. 我妻子生完第4个孩子后做了绝育手术。 来自辞典例句
• All surgical instruments must be sterilized before use. 所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。 来自辞典例句

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

8 enacting   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之，这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外，介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

9 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

14 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

15 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

16 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。