North Carolina forms task force to explore financial compensation for eugenics victims

Although debates about how to allocate state funding have divided state Democrats and Republicans, one cause has garnered bipartisan support — compensation for victims of eugenics practices.

A five-member task force created by Gov. Bev Perdue is meeting today to discuss how much to compensate each victim.

Eugenics programs across the nation forcibly sterilized weaker members of society, often without telling the victims.

Between 1929 and 1974, an estimated 7,600 people were sterilized in North Carolina as a part of the program. Many of the victims did not give consent.

The task force is planning to recommend between $20,000 and $50,000 per victim — which could total almost $150 million, said Dr. Laura Gerald, chairwoman of the task force.

In February, the task force will recommend a final amount that will be given to each of the state’s estimated 2,944 living victims.

“(The state) used the excuse ‘promiscuous, feeble-minded or not valuable members of society,’” said Rep. Larry Womble, D-Forsyth, adding that the program targeted the poor.

In February, Womble co-sponsored a bill calling for compensation for eugenics victims.

According to the State Center for Health Statistics, 85 percent of the victims were women.

“These people were not criminals, and they did not break any laws,” Womble said. “Yet they were treated as less than human beings.”

Thirty other states also had eugenics programs.

After World War II, most other states ended their programs, but North Carolina increased the number of people sterilized, he said.

Womble said he is proud of what the state has done so far for eugenics victims but believes compensation is the final step that must be taken.

The first step came in 2002, when former Gov. Mike Easley formally apologized to victims and made eugenics illegal, Womble said.

Now Perdue seeks to do what no other state has done: financially compensate victims.

Gerald said compensation is a way for the state to go beyond Easley’s symbolic apology.

“Anyone who has heard victims’ stories would determine they were wronged by the state and deserve compensation,” Gerald said.

Both Republicans and Democrats agree that compensating victims is worth the cost.

“It’s the difference between doing what’s right and what’s wrong,” said Rep. Dale Folwell, R-Forsyth.

Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Chatham, said compensation depends on the budget, but he is cautiously optimistic that there will be enough funding to pay for the compensation.

Womble said economic hardship should be a negligible consideration.

“No amount of money will fully compensate these people. We took away their bloodlines, legacy, reproductive organs and ability to have a family.

“I’ve been working on this for 10 years and less than half of the victims are still alive,” he said.

At its October meeting, the task force recommended providing victims with compensation and mental health services.

They also recommended funding a traveling eugenics exhibit and the continuation of the N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation, which Perdue founded to provide information and assistance to victims.

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