By Stephanie Beasley, Devex, October 1, 2021
The heads of several U.S.-based philanthropic organizations say they are reckoning with their groups’ legacies of eugenics as they seek to help domestic and international grantees overcome systemic racism and other prejudices that could impact their projects.
Ford Foundation President Darren Walker and John Palfrey, president at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, spoke about the philanthropy sector’s early involvement in the eugenics movement during a virtual event hosted by the Anti-Eugenics Project on Thursday. The Anti-Eugenics Project is a network of academics and others who study the legacies of eugenicist ideologies.
Eugenics propagates the belief in a hierarchy among humans, with some people ranked above others based on certain features such as skin and eye color. Whites, generally, are seen as superior to other races, according to many followers of the modern movement.
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