Stated more bluntly, the true motive behind the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 was the maintenance of white supremacy and black economic and social inferiority… |
An investigation of the people who laid the groundwork for Virginia‘s miscegenation law reveals that the pseudo-science of eugenics was a convenient facade used by men whose personal prejudices on social issues preceded any “scientific theory.” Stated more bluntly, the true motive behind the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 was the maintenance of white supremacy and black economic and social inferiority—racism, pure and simple. It was an accident of history that eugenic theory reached its peak of acceptability in 1924 so as to be available as a respectable veneer with which to cover ancient prejudice. For Powell, Plecker, and their ilk, eugenical ideology was not a sine qua non for legislation, but merely a coincidental set of arguments that provided intellectual fuel to the racist fires.
Paul A. Lombardo. “Miscegenation, Eugenics, and Racism: Historical Foonotes to Loving v. Virginia,” University of California, Davis Law Review. 1988, Volume 21, Number 2, pages 421-452. http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/21/2/essays/DavisVol21No2_Lombardo.pdf.
Tags: Paul A. Lombardo, Paul Lombardo, University of California, University of California Davis Law Review