Category Archives: Eugenics

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Organizers and supporters of an online petition are aiming to change the name of Dight Avenue in Minneapolis, which is named after a eugenicist.

The petition on Change.org had reached more than 300 signatures as of Tuesday morning, with a goal of 500. It states that the street name is harmful to people with disabilities and asks Mayor Jacob Frey and the Minneapolis City Council to change it.The street runs parallel to Hiawatha Avenue in the Howe neighborhood.

Dight Avenue is named after Charles Fremont Dight, who is described by the Minnesota Historical Society's MNopedia as "Minnesotas most avid and consistent supporter of eugenics." Heworked as a University of Minnesota professor and was elected to the Minneapolis City Council in 1914, all while leading a "crusade" to bring eugenics to the state.

As the Gale Family Library explains:

"Dight organized the Minnesota Eugenics Society in 1923 and began campaigning for a sterilization law. In 1925 the Minnesota legislature passed a law allowing the sterilization of the 'feebleminded' and insane who were resident in the state's institutions. For the next several legislative sessions Dight fought unsuccessfully for expansion of the law to include sterilization of the 'unfit' who lived outside of institutions."

In 1933, he wrote a letter to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, in which he voiced support for Hitlers intentions to stamp out mental inferiority in Germany. Hitler responded, thanking Dight and inviting him to a lecture in Munich, MNopedia says.

Dight died in 1938.

Dight not only founded the Minnesota Eugenics society but actively pursued the same type of eugenics as Nazi scientists such as Josef Mengele, the Change.org petition reads. This sort of legacy should not be recognized or lauded anywhere.

The rest is here:

Petition asks to rename Minneapolis street named after eugenicist who praised Hitler - Bring Me The News

To the editor:

Prenatal screening has nearly eliminated Down syndrome in Iceland. A few other countries are following suit. In the United Kingdom, it has been reported that up to 90% of those who test positive for DS terminate the pregnancy.

Embryo selection and alteration resulting from in vitro fertilization may soon go far beyond optimizing chances for a successful pregnancy. Advanced gene-editing techniques, known by the acronym CRISPR, have implications not restricted to the reduction of disease.

It brings us closer to being able to choose desirable traits such as approximate height, eye color and even skin tone. Altering the DNA of embryos to our liking might be inevitable as advances in human gene manipulation grow exponentially.

As we set about renaming buildings and streets due to the abhorrent beliefs of a past university president, we might also take a hard look at what going on in the present day. It looks an awful lot like eugenics although, I believe its been renamed.

Scott Thompson

Bloomington

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Letter: A rose by any other name ... - The Herald-Times

Here is a list of noteworthy films scheduled this summer. Release dates and platform are subject to change and reflect the latest information as of deadline.

CHANGING THE GAME (on Hulu) This documentary profiles three transgender athletes and their high school sports careers, with a particular focus on Mack Beggs, a transgender man who as a teenager wanted to compete in boys wrestling but, because of a rule in Texas, could only wrestle against girls.

ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE (in theaters) The biases of surveillance by the eye, by police body cameras and in the composite photography of the eugenics proponent Francis Galton, for example are the subject of this haunting, wide-ranging essay film from the Baltimore experimental director Theo Anthony (Rat Film). It won a special jury prize at Sundance.

THE ANCIENT WOODS (in theaters) The biologist and filmmaker Mindaugas Survila investigates the floral and faunal mysteries of a mostly untouched forest in Lithuania. Film Forum says the movie, poised between nature documentary and folklore, is suitable for children whose attention spans have not been destroyed by technology.

BAD TALES (in virtual cinemas) This Italian feature, winner of best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival last year, pulls back the facade of family life in a seemingly idyllic Rome suburb.

THE CARNIVORES (in theaters and on demand) The illness of a dog triggers the unraveling of a couple (Lindsay Burdge and Tallie Medel). The trailer promises ample servings of the dark and the grotesque.

CITY OF ALI (in virtual cinemas) Other documentaries have captured the highlights of Muhammad Alis career, but City of Ali deals specifically with his life in Louisville, Ky., where he was born and raised.

THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT (in theaters and on HBO Max) Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) return for whats either the third or the eighth Conjuring movie. (Spinoffs like Annabelle and The Nun only sort of count.) This one involves the case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi OConnor), who was convicted of manslaughter but who some believe was possessed. Michael Chaves (who directed another spinoff, The Curse of La Llorona) assumes the helm from the Conjuring director James Wan.

THE REAL THING (in virtual cinemas) Koji Fukada (the Cannes prizewinner Harmonium) directed this four-hour feature, based on a manga and condensed from a 10-episode series, about a toy seller who rescues a woman from being hit by a train and gets a whirlwind of adventure as his reward.

SLOW MACHINE (in virtual cinemas) In a fractured narrative, Stephanie Hayes plays an actress who has a series of bizarre encounters with a man who identifies himself as a New York City police intelligence specialist. The movie was shown in an experimental section of last years New York Film Festival.

SPIRIT UNTAMED (in theaters) The daughter (voiced by Isabela Merced) of a legendary horse rider (voiced by Eiza Gonzlez) hops into her mothers saddle in this computer-animated feature. Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal and Andre Braugher round out the vocal cast.

UNDINE (in theaters and on demand) Interweaving mythology and the history of modern Berlin, the German director Christian Petzold reunites the stars of his acclaimed Transit for a love story of sorts between a recently spurned tour guide (Paula Beer) and a diver (Franz Rogowski) who repairs bridges. What the film means is as slippery as the protagonists, who get soaked when a fish tank explodes during their meet-cute and are continually drawn to water.

THE AMUSEMENT PARK (on Shudder) In one of the stranger collaborations in cinema history, George A. Romero, just a few years removed from Night of the Living Dead, accepted an assignment from the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania to make a film about the mistreatment of the elderly. True to form, he turned it into a horror movie. Made in the early 1970s and rarely shown until the recent arrival of a restored version in 2020, it will be widely available for the first time.

AWAKE (on Netflix) A cataclysm knocks out Earths power grids and gives the worlds population insomnia; the collective exhaustion leads to Purge-like conditions. Gina Rodriguez plays a former soldier whose daughter is somehow immune to the sleeplessness, but harnessing the cure isnt as simple as giving everyone valerian tea. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Frances Fisher co-star.

TRAGIC JUNGLE (on Netflix) Yulene Olaizola directed this 1920s-set magical-realist feature, shown at the Venice and New York film festivals last year. It centers on a fleeing woman (Indira Andrewin) who finds herself in the company of gum workers in the Mayan rainforest.

THE WOMAN WHO RAN (in theaters) In the latest film from the prolific South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, a character played by Hongs frequent star Kim Min-hee visits with three friends. There is also an argument with a neighbor about whether its all right to feed stray cats.

ASIA (in theaters) Shira Haas of Unorthodox plays a Russian immigrant in Israel who faces challenges both with her health and her mother (Alena Yiv). Ruthy Pribar directed, and it won the top prize from the body that gives out Israels equivalent of the Academy Awards.

CENSOR (in theaters) Shown at Sundance, this stylized British horror film is set in the 1980s, when what became known as video nasties violent, cheaply made movies available on cassette were all the rage. Niamh Algar plays a censor who does her utmost to protect the public (but maybe wasnt so great at protecting her sister years earlier). Prano Bailey-Bond directed.

DOMINO: BATTLE OF THE BONES (in theaters) No, its not a sequel to Tony Scotts 2005 movie Domino, in which Keira Knightley played a bounty hunter, or one to Brian De Palmas recent film of the same title. Rather, its the story of how a man and his stepgrandson compete in a domino tournament. Baron Davis, the former N.B.A. star, directed and co-wrote.

HOLLER (in theaters and on demand) Jessica Barden plays a promising Ohio student who begins working in scrap-metal yards to keep her family together. Nicole Riegel directed; Pamela Adlon and Gus Halper co-star.

IN THE HEIGHTS (in theaters and on HBO Max) Expected to have been a huge hit in the summer of 2020, now destined to be a return-to-the-movies toe-tapper in 2021, this film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Mirandas best-musical Tony winner the one before Hamilton, that is stars Anthony Ramos (a.k.a. Philip Hamilton) as Usnavi, the bodega owner Miranda played on Broadway. Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Miranda also appear. Jon M. Chu, who showed his skill with screen musicals in two of the better Step Up movies, directed from a screenplay by the musicals book writer, Quiara Alegra Hudes.

THE MISFITS (in theaters) Pierce Brosnan, two decades from his turn in the Thomas Crown Affair remake, plays another thief who joins forces with a group to steal gold bars that a businessman (Tim Roth) uses to finance terrorists. Renny Harlin directed.

PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY (in theaters) James Corden returns as the voice of Beatrix Potters famous hare, although Glenn Kenny of The Times wrote that the first film, from 2018, dispensed with the sweetness and light and lyricism of the books. Here, Peter ventures out of the garden to make trouble.

SKATER GIRL (on Netflix) Rachel Saanchita Gupta plays a teenager in northwestern India who discovers skateboarding and begins to dream of competing at a championship level.

SUBLET (in theaters) John Benjamin Hickey plays a grieving travel journalist (for The New York Times, no less) who rediscovers his zest for life in Tel Aviv. Eytan Fox directed.

WISH DRAGON (on Netflix) Jimmy Wong provides the voice of a college student and John Cho the voice of a wish-granting dragon in this animated feature, which is set in Shanghai and counts Jackie Chan among its producers.

REVOLUTION RENT (on HBO Max) How does La Bohme transplanted to Alphabet City play when its transplanted to Cuba? This documentary follows Andy Seor Jr., the son of Cuban exiles, as he works to put on an American-produced staging of Rent in that country. Seor directed with Victor Patrick Alvarez.

AN UNKNOWN COMPELLING FORCE (on demand) This documentary delves into the murky matter of what killed nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in 1959. (A study published earlier this year said it was quite possibly an avalanche.)

THE HITMANS WIFES BODYGUARD (in theaters) Samuel L. Jackson is the hit man. Ryan Reynolds is the bodyguard. What more do you want me to say? A.O. Scott wrote of The Hitmans Bodyguard in 2017. Well, Salma Hayek played the hit mans wife in that movie, too, and now theyre all back for a sequel. Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman also star.

A CRIME ON THE BAYOU (in theaters) Nancy Buirski (The Rape of Recy Taylor) directs this documentary about Gary Duncan, who was convicted of simple battery in Louisiana after trying to stop a skirmish near an integrated school. The Supreme Court ultimately found that he had a right to a jury trial.

FATHERHOOD (on Netflix) Kevin Hart plays a widower adjusting to life as a single father in this drama directed by Paul Weitz. Its adapted from a book by Matthew Logelin.

LUCA (on Disney+) In Pixars latest, two sea monsters disguise themselves as boys to experience the wonders of the Italian Riviera on land. Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer voice the two main characters; Enrico Casarosa (the Pixar short La Luna) directed.

RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER (on National Geographic and Hulu) This documentary from Dawn Porter (John Lewis: Good Trouble) looks at the 1921 massacre in Tulsa when white residents destroyed what was known as Black Wall Street.

RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT (in theaters) The EGOT-winning actress revisits her career, recounting her experiences with discrimination in Hollywood, her breakthrough role in West Side Story and more. Mariem Prez Riera directed.

SIBERIA (in theaters and on demand) The idea of Abel Ferrara directing Willem Dafoe as a bartender in Siberia will be irresistible to fans of a certain brand of uncompromising cinema. In an interview, Ferrara described it as an odyssey movie.

THE SPARKS BROTHERS (in theaters) Edgar Wright directed what feels like the definitive portrait of the band Sparks, a.k.a. the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, who straddle an almost imperceptibly thin line between the comic and the earnest and whose most consistent trait over 50 years has been their interest in reinventing their sound. Their first movie musical, Annette (Aug. 6), also comes out this summer.

SUMMER OF 85 (in theaters) Franois Ozon directed this tale of young summer romance, which was selected for the canceled Cannes Film Festival last year. A boy (Flix Lefebvre) is saved from a boating accident and then taught worldly ways by his rescuer (Benjamin Voisin).

SWEAT (in theaters) Another selection from the Cannes-that-wasnt, this Polish feature from Magnus von Horn stars Magdalena Kolesnik as a fitness influencer who faces the burdens of being extremely online.

SWEET THING (in theaters) Alexandre Rockwell, a mainstay of American independent filmmaking in the 1990s with films like In the Soup, directs his children in a coming-of-age film about a long and fantastical day.

TRUMAN & TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The documentarian Lisa Immordino Vreeland puts Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams in an artistic dialogue with each other. Jim Parsons reads Capotes words in voice-over and Zachary Quinto reads Williamss.

12 MIGHTY ORPHANS (in theaters) Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw and Martin Sheen star in this true story of a how an orphanages football team went to compete for championships in Texas during the Great Depression.

SISTERS ON TRACK (on Netflix) Three sisters Tai, Rainn and Brooke Sheppard raised in tough circumstances in Brooklyn won medals in the Junior Olympics and were declared SportsKids of the Year for 2016 by the childrens edition of Sports Illustrated. This documentary tells their story, on the track and off.

AGAINST THE CURRENT (in theaters) No, its not a Great Gatsby spinoff. Its a documentary about Veiga Gretarsdottir, a transgender kayaker who sets out to circumnavigate Iceland in the more difficult counterclockwise direction.

F9 (in theaters) Just when Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) thought they had settled into a quiet family life, Doms brother (John Cena) who is every bit the driver Dom is, and also an assassin turns up to settle scores. Justin Lin directed.

FALSE POSITIVE (on Hulu) Ilana Glazer and Justin Theroux play a couple trying to get pregnant who discover that their doctor (Pierce Brosnan) has a dark side.

I CARRY YOU WITH ME (in theaters) The documentarian Heidi Ewing (Detropia) turns to dramatized filmmaking, though not entirely (to say more would be a spoiler), with this story of the love between two Mexican men (Armando Espitia and Christian Vzquez) and how their bond endures after one, with his eye on working as a chef, crosses into the United States.

THE ICE ROAD (on Netflix) Liam Neeson plays a badass big-rig driver trying to rescue entombed miners in the frozen reaches of Canada.

KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (in theaters and on demand) Malia Scharf, with Max Basch, directed this look at her father, who emerged from the East Village art world of the 1980s.

WEREWOLVES WITHIN (in theaters) Holed up in a snowstorm, the residents of a small town must contend with lycanthropy. Josh Ruben directed; Milana Vayntrub and Sam Richardson star.

WOLFGANG (on Disney+) Not Amadeus Mozart, but Puck. David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi) directed this portrait of the celebrity chefs career.

AMERICA: THE MOTION PICTURE (on Netflix) With the voice of Channing Tatum as a chainsaw-wielding George Washington, this irreverent animated feature makes a travesty of key figures of the American Revolution. Jason Mantzoukas and Olivia Munn also supply voices. Matt Thompson directed.

LYDIA LUNCH THE WAR IS NEVER OVER (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The New York underground filmmaker Beth B directed this portrait of another figure from the scene, the No Wave singer Lydia Lunch.

ZOLA (in theaters) A tale originally told in a viral 148-tweet thread (and then in a Rolling Stone article about the thread) is now a major motion picture, directed by Janicza Bravo (Lemon) and written by Bravo and the playwright Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play). Taylour Paige stars as a waitress and occasional stripper who is taken on a wild trip to Florida by another stripper (Riley Keough). Colman Domingo also stars.

NO SUDDEN MOVE (on HBO Max) The pandemic hasnt slowed down Steven Soderbergh. His latest feature is a crime thriller starring Don Cheadle as an ex-con who plots a convoluted scheme that goes awry. Benicio Del Toro, Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm and Amy Seimetz are among the many familiar faces populating Detroit in 1954, when the film is set.

BEING A HUMAN PERSON (in theaters) The Swedish commercial director turned deadpan filmmaker Roy Andersson is the subject of this documentary, which follows the making of his latest movie, About Endlessness, which opened in April.

FEAR STREET (on Netflix) R.L. Stines Fear Street books have become three feature films set in 1994, 1978 and 1666, respectively that will be released on a weekly basis starting July 2. Stine has said that the content wont be toned down for children. Leigh Janiak directed all three movies, and cast members recur throughout.

FIRST DATE (in theaters and on demand) Tyson Brown plays a teenager who takes his dream girl (Shelby Duclos) on a misadventure-filled outing in a dilapidated Chrysler.

THE FOREVER PURGE (in theaters) In the Purge franchise, murder is made legal for one day a year. This fifth film in the series dares to ask, what if it were more than one day? Judging from the trailer, you should also count on commentary on United States-Mexico border politics.

SUMMER OF SOUL ( OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (in theaters and on Hulu) In his first feature documentary as director, Questlove assembles joyous archival footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts that developed a reputation as the Black Woodstock. The film features electrifying performances from Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Ray Barretto and more.

TILL DEATH (in theaters and on demand) The Jennifers Body star Megan Fox plays a woman who wakes up handcuffed to her husbands corpse in this thriller.

THE TOMORROW WAR (on Amazon). Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski and J.K. Simmons are all tapped for a war effort against aliens that wont happen until 30 years in the future. Time travel makes this possible.

BLACK WIDOW (in theaters and on Disney+) The Marvel universe continues to swallow promising actors by casting Midsommar and Little Women standout Florence Pugh as Yelena, who is brought together as a family with Scarlett Johanssons Black Widow. The Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) directed.

SUMMERTIME (in theaters) Carlos Lpez Estrada (Blindspotting) directed this vibrant panorama of life in Los Angeles. Its like a musical, but instead of bursting into song, the characters share their emotions in poetry, written by the cast members, who are poets.

THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT (in theaters) Julien Faraut, an archivist whose documentary John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection posed intriguing parallels between tennis and cinema, recounts how textile workers in Japan became an internationally celebrated volleyball team.

CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The dancer Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz direct a portrait of the choreographer as LeBlanc oversees a production of his 1989 work D-Man in the Waters, which addressed the AIDS epidemic in dance.

ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS (in theaters) Taylor Russell and Logan Miller, who played escapees in the first Escape Room (2019), find themselves ensnared again.

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (in theaters) Morgan Neville (Wont You Be My Neighbor) directed this portrait of the Kitchen Confidential chef, who died in 2018.

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (in theaters and on HBO Max) In 1996, Michael Jordan joined the Looney Tunes on the basketball court. This time its LeBron James who assembles Bugs and the gang for a hybrid live-action/animated round of hoops, with a lot of other Warner Bros. intellectual property filling out the sidelines. Malcolm D. Lee directed.

AILEY (in theaters and on demand) Using archival footage and its subjects words, the director Jamila Wignots documentary recounts the career of the dancer-choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931-89).

EYIMOFE (THIS IS MY DESIRE) (in theaters) The siblings Arie and Chuko Esiri directed this film set in Lagos, Nigeria, about two people separately trying to leave for Europe.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: TRANSFORMANIA (in theaters) The transformation in this fourth feature of the animated franchise happens when a monsterfication ray turns humans into monsters and monsters into humans. But theres a behind-the-scenes transformation, too: Draculas vocal cords arent supplied by Adam Sandler this time, but by Brian Hull.

THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER (on Netflix). In this summers addition to the tear-jerker sweepstakes, Felicity Jones plays a journalist who uncovers an affair from the 1960s between another journalist (Callum Turner) and a married woman (Shailene Woodley).

MANDIBLES (in theaters and on demand) The French absurdist and electronic musician Quentin Dupieux (Deerskin) serves up another deadpan oddity, about two friends trying to train a giant fly.

OLD (in theaters) It wouldnt be an M. Night Shyamalan film if the premise werent shrouded in mystery, but judging from the Super Bowl trailer, it stars Gael Garca Bernal and Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) as parents vacationing with their family on a beach that magically turns their children old.

SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS (in theaters) Based on the line of action figures, this franchise adds to its collection by giving an origin story to Snake Eyes, played by Ray Park in earlier movies and now embodied during his ninja-training phase by Henry Golding.

RESORT TO LOVE (on Netflix). Christina Milian plays a singer who aspires to superstardom but is reduced to performing at her exs wedding.

ENEMIES OF THE STATE (in theaters and on demand) Executive produced by Errol Morris, this documentary, directed by Sonia Kennebeck, unravels the case of Matt DeHart, a hacktivist who sought refuge in Canada and claimed the F.B.I. had tortured him.

THE GREEN KNIGHT (in theaters) Dev Patel has a seat at the round table as Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, in the director David Lowerys quest to revive the Arthurian legend onscreen. Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton and Sarita Choudhury also star.

JUNGLE CRUISE (in theaters and on Disney+) In 1916, a British researcher (Emily Blunt) travels to South America and hires a roguish, Bogartian skipper (Dwayne Johnson) as her guide through the Amazon. Its based on a ride at Disneyland, and indirectly on a long lineage of Hollywood adventure films. Edgar Ramrez, Jesse Plemons and Paul Giamatti co-star. Jaume Collet-Serra directed.

THE LAST MERCENARY (on Netflix) French authorities falsely allege that a young man has been trafficking arms and drugs. Unfortunately for them, his father is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme.

NINE DAYS (in theaters) Winston Duke plays an interrogator at a way station of sorts, where he interviews people actually unborn souls some of whom will earn the right to be born as humans. Zazie Beetz plays an interviewee who confounds him. Edson Oda wrote and directed.

SABAYA (in theaters and on demand) This documentary trails intrepid volunteer workers in Syria who extract women and girls held captive as sex slaves by the Islamic State.

STILLWATER Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) directed Matt Damon as an American oil-rig worker whose daughter (Abigail Breslin) is imprisoned for murder in Marseille, France. She says she is innocent; he scrambles to help her.

ANNETTE (in theaters) While Edgar Wrights documentary about the band Sparks (June 18) covers the cinephile musicians history of movie projects that never came to fruition, this feature film gives them their chance: They wrote the screenplay, the songs and the score for this love story, and Leos Carax (Holy Motors) directed. Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard star.

EMA (in theaters) The Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larran directs this story of a dancer (Mariana Di Girolamo) and a choreographer (Gael Garca Bernal) whose lives are thrown out of whack after they return the boy they adopted.

JOHN AND THE HOLE (in theaters and on demand) At the age of 13, John (Charlie Shotwell) gains a measure of adult independence by drugging his immediate family (Jennifer Ehle, Michael C. Hall and Taissa Farmiga) and imprisoning them in a bunker. Pascual Sisto directed this detached, chilly open-ended allegory.

THE MACALUSO SISTERS (in theaters) The Italian playwright and theater director Emma Dante directed this story of five orphan sisters in living in Palermo. She adapted it from her play.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD (in theaters and on HBO Max) If it doesnt work the first time, add a definite article. Poised somewhere between a reboot of and a sequel to Suicide Squad (2016), the movie sets several DC characters, including Margot Robbies Harley Quinn, loose on a jungle island. James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) wrote and directed. With Idris Elba, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone and Viola Davis.

THE KISSING BOOTH 3 (on Netflix) This entry in the series finds Elle (Joey King) getting ready for college.

CODA (in theaters and on Apple TV+) A crowd-pleaser (and awards-grabber, with four prizes) at this years Sundance Film Festival, the movie tells the story of a child of deaf adults (Emilia Jones) in a working-class Massachusetts fishing family. She wants to sing, a passion that is alien to her non-hearing parents (Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur) and brother (Daniel Durant). Sian Heder directed this remake of a French film.

DAYS (in theaters) A highlight of last years New York Film Festival, the director Tsai Ming-liangs feature follows two men one in Taipei, then Hong Kong (the Tsai regular Lee Kang-sheng); the other in Bangkok (Anong Houngheuangsy) who in the second half meet, and for a little while are not alone.

DONT BREATHE 2 (in theaters) In the first Dont Breathe (2016), Stephen Lang played a blind veteran whose dark secrets were among that home-invasion tales surprises. Theres more on those in this sequel. Rodo Sayagues directed, co-writing with Fede Alvarez, who directed the original.

FREE GUY (in theaters) Ryan Reynolds plays a bank teller who finds out, Truman Show-like, that he is actually a background character in a video game. Shawn Levy directed. Jodie Comer and Lil Rel Howery also star.

THE MEANING OF HITLER (in theaters and on demand) The documentarians Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker examine the rise of Nazi Germany and draw parallels with the rumblings of authoritarianism across the globe today.

THE LOST LEONARDO (in theaters) Andreas Koefoeds documentary investigates the dealings that surround Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, when in 2017 it was billed as a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Unsurprisingly, not everyone agrees.

RESPECT (in theaters) Find out what it means to her: Jennifer Hudson plays Aretha Franklin in this biopic of the Queen of Soul, directed by the theater vet Liesl Tommy. With Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington, Audra McDonald as Franklins mother and Forest Whitaker as Franklins father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin.

CRYPTOZOO (in theaters and on demand) Its really more of a cryptid zoo, a cryptid being an animal that is the subject of lore but does not actually exist, like the dream-eating creature that everyone is after in this movie. Its an animated film, from the graphic novelist Dash Shaw. Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause and Thomas Jay Ryan provided some of the voices.

THE NIGHT HOUSE (in theaters) Rebecca Hall plays a widow who discovers that her husband had a thing for women who looked quite a bit like her, one of whom is played by Stacy Martin. What was he up to? David Bruckner directed, with an appetite for jump scares.

PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE (in theaters) The techno-fitted animated canines of the childrens TV series make the leap to the big screen.

THE PROTG (in theaters) This is the second movie of the summer in which Samuel L. Jackson plays a hit man (after The Hitmans Bodyguards Wife) except that this one concerns the hit mans daughter (Maggie Q), or at least the woman he raised like a daughter, a hit woman herself, who seeks revenge after he is murdered. Michael Keaton co-stars, also playing a killer. Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) directed.

See more here:

Summer Movies 2021: Heres Whats Coming to the Big (and Small) Screen - The New York Times

We need to talk about the disproportionate rate of miscarriages and stillbirth among black women I trust healthcare individuals but not the healthcare service.

This quote from a focus group participant, conducted by Cambridge academic Dr. Kenny Monrose for the Black British Voices Project, illustrates the broken relationship between the healthcare service and the black community. A 2018 study found that black women were five times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts.

These figures for many may come as a shock, but for black communities across the UK, this is unsurprising and represents just one element of a longstanding, complex history of medical racism and misogynoir.

(Misogynoir is the dislike of, contempt for or ingrained prejudice against black women, according to the Google dictionary)

Dating back generations, and with origins in eugenics, scientific racism and slavery, black women have persistently had their pain and suffering questioned by medical professionals.

Eugenics is the study of how to make humans reproduce to maximise characteristics judged desirable.It was widely discredited as racist during the 20th century according to Oxford languages.

These professionals make assumptions about our capacity for endurance and resilience. The strong black woman trope is terrifying and familiar to us all. In every room we enter, we change ourselves to satisfy the white male gaze. We smile, let others walk in before us, and nod along when spoken to.

This performance of acceptable femininity, has been drilled into us as necessary for our survival because if we are seen as aggressive and intimidating, we will also be seen as unworthy of care.

Ultimately, this shape-shifting does not help us. The wise words of Audre Lorde remind us that silence will not protect us. We cannot separate our blackness from our womanhood.

We will always be seen as intimidating, because that is how we have been historically and socially constructed to appear. It is not the job of black mothers to convince medical professionals that they are truly in pain, whether that be mental or physical. When womens issues such as reproductive or gynaecological health are dismissed by medical professionals, it is not difficult to imagine how negatively this can impact health outcomes for black women, who face discrimination due to their race and gender.

Healthcare, like many other institutions, represents yet another area where black women are not protected and are expected to make do. We are not given the same levels of care and protection that many white women receive. While white motherhood is praised, black mothers are expected to fail. They also have to deal with stereotypes such as the missing black father.

Just think about how differently the media spoke about Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle holding their baby bumps. In two Daily Mail articles (2018, 2019), Middleton was described as tenderly and protective. In contrast, Markle was criticised for virtue signalling and accused of being unsympathetic to people who didnt have children.

Although the idea of representation is being criticised as an empty buzzword, and a tick box exercise for businesses that want to seem woke, it does have consequences for communities like ours.

Stereotypical images, such as that of the mammy who cares for white children, overshadows how diverse and complex black womens experiences can be.

In the media, black women are stigmatised. At the same time, the idea that we only exist to care for and cater to whiteness persists.

Black single mothers are demonised as overly sexual. They are blamed for issues such as youth violence and educational underachievement. Supposedly depriving their sons of male role models, the black single mother is marked out as dangerously subverting the idea of the perfect nuclear family.

What we dont see in the media are the unique challenges black mothers face in creating joy for children while balancing the emotional work of preparing them for a world that was not designed for them. White parents may encourage colour-blindness and assume that discussing race with their children is unnecessary, but not having to think about race during childhood is a luxury that black communities dont have.

When black parents remind black children about their behaviour, they are not simply disciplining them. They are trying to teach their children to navigate a world where blackness is demonised and devalued. The freedom of childhood is an experience that black children do not have equal access to. Their innocence is often interrupted by racism in everyday life. While motherhood is a complex journey for all, the particular burdens shouldered by black women to keep children safe must be explored.

On days like International Womens Day, the media becomes saturated with images of female empowerment which cater to a very specific category of woman: the white, middle-class girlboss. Clawing her way to the top and smashing the glass ceiling (all with a child perched on her hip), the white middle-class girlboss is seen as the epitome of female success. Girlboss narratives praise the white middle-class woman who is able to blend motherhood seamlessly with career achievement, but often neglect the ways whiteness makes these doors easier to open.

Black mothers, in contrast, do not only face a gendered glass ceiling, but must also navigate a world of work where aspects of their racial and cultural identity, such as hair and dialect, are seen as unprofessional.

Ignoring these intersectional barriers, girlboss feminism suggests that poor and working-class black mothers are to blame for the difficulties they face. Our society accepts the myth of meritocracy and assumes they havent worked hard enough.

In a meritocracy, people are in positions of power because they have earned it.

The goal should not be for black mothers to blend into a corporate world which is built on, and continues the capitalist, colonial structure.

Instead, the position of black mothers should serve as a catalyst for a radical re-imagining of what female empowerment could mean. What does feminist liberation look like beyond the limits of the patriarchal, imperialist and capitalist structures of the corporate world?

The issues that black women and children face are complex. Black communities continue to work towards solutions. The impactful work of women like Candice Brathwaite who fights to Make Motherhood Diverse is an example that comes to mind.

However, the British press treatment of Meghan Markle after she opened up about her struggles with mental illness reminds us just how far we have to go. If this is how a lighter-skinned, privileged woman married into the royal family is treated, how would they treat a darker-skinned working class woman?

As black women watching this unfold, we hold our breath and wonder when there will be a turning point? When will people decide to listen? Momentary shock and outrage will not save black women only structural change and action will.

Aisling Gilgeours is a postgraduate student in Marginality & Exclusion within the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge.

Maya McFarlane is an undergraduate student in Human, Social & Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She is also the Womens and Non-Binary officer for the Cambridge SU BME Campaign.

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Black British Voices: Black women, mothers and children remain unprotected - The Voice Online

The UK government recently announced an 800 million, taxpayer-funded Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria). The brainchild of the British prime ministers former chief adviser,Dominic Cummingsand modelled on the USDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Darpa, the organisation will focus partly on genomic research.

Genome technology is becoming an increasingly important part of military research. So given that the UK boasts some of the best genomic research centres in the world, how will its new agency affect the wider genome technology warfare race?

In 2019, Darpa announced that it wishes to explore genetically editing soldiers. It has also invested over US$65 million (45 million) to improve the safety and accuracy of genome-editing technologies. These include the famousNobel prize-winning Crispr-Cas molecular scissor a tool that can edit DNA by cutting and pasting sections of it.

But the ease of accessibility and low cost of Crispr-based technologies has caused concern around potential military genetic modification andweaponisation of viruses or bacteria. These include smallpox or tuberculosis, and could be extremely destructive.

The US is not alone in its military pursuit of genome technology. Russia and China have either stated or been accused of using genomic technology to enhance military capabilities.

Universal SoldierandCaptain Americaare just a few Hollywood movies that have explored the concept of the super soldier. Despite its sci-fi nature, several countries are looking to explore the potential of such prospects. Darpa intends to explore genetically editing soldiers toturn them into antibody factories, making them resistant to chemical or biological attacks.

In December 2020, the then US director of national intelligence,John Ratcliffe, said there was evidence that the Chinese militarywas conducting human experimentationin an attempt to biologically boost soldiers. This followed a report by theJamestown policy thinktankthat highlighted reports suggesting that Crisprwould form a keystone technologyin China to boost troops combat effectiveness. No further details were given, however.

Not all countries are prepared to use gene editing or even genomic technology to enhance soldiers, however. The French military ethics committee has recentlyapprovedresearch on soldier augmentation, such implants that could improve cerebral capacity. However, the committee warned that certain red lines could not be crossed, including genome editing or eugenics. In the morecandid words of the French minister of the armed forces,Florence Parly, this amounted to A yes to Ironman, but a no to Spiderman (Ironman gets his superpowers from a suit whereas Spiderman is bitten by a radioactive spider).

In Russia, the military is looking toimplement genetic passportsfor its personnel, allowing it to assess genetic predispositions and biomarkers, for example, for stress tolerance. This could help place soldiers in suitable military lines, such as navy, air force and so forth. The genetic project also aims to understand how soldiers respond to stressful situations both physically and mentally.

There are signs that the UK will be bolder and less accountable in its genetic defence research than many other countries. For example, Aria wont besubject to freedom of information requests, in contrasts with Darpa.

The UK has also been at the forefront in enabling controversial, pioneering non-military genome technology, such asthree-parent babies. And there has been no shortage of government reports that have stressed the importance of genome technology in the domain of defence and security.

In 2015,a UK national defence reviewhighlighted the influence that advances in genetic engineering can have for security and prosperity. In the recent 2021Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy reviewthe UK government once again stressed its significance for defence and national security.

The proposed lack of accountability of Aria, combined with the governments general mission for genome technology to be expanded into security and defence applications, will create a hotpot of debate and discussion. In recent years, British scientists have received Darpa fundingfor controversial genomic research, such as genetic extinction of invasive species such as mosquitoes or rodents. Despite its promise, this could have disastrous potential to damage food security and threaten the wider ecosystems of nations.

Genome technology deployment needs to be managed in a universally, ethically and scientifically robust manner. If it isnt, the potential for a new arms race for advances in this research will only lead to more radical and potentially dangerous solutions. There are many unanswered questions about how Aria will help genome research within the military sphere. The pathway the UK chooses will have lasting consequences on how we perceive genome tech in the public space.

Yusef Paolo Rabiah is a PhD Candidate at STEaPP UCL. Yusefs PhD is focused on developing public policy frameworks for the introduction of germline genome editing technologies into the UK. Find Yusef on Twitter @PaoloYusef

A version of this article was originally posted at the Conversation and has been reposted here with permission. The Conversation can be found on Twitter @ConversationUS

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Genomic Cold War? More nations joining the US in using biotechnology to enhance military capabilities - Genetic Literacy Project

The connections among visual representation, the creation of knowledge, and political power are at the core of Theo Anthonys documentary All Light, Everywhere (which opens in theatres and virtual cinemas June 4). Its centered on a flash point of current policy debatethe use of body cams by police officers. Anthony visits the headquarters of Axon Enterprise, which manufactures the devices, as well as the Taser, and discovers the links between the cameras and the weapon; he also observes the training of police officers in the use of body cams and examines the methods by which officials interpret the recordings. He surprisingly situates the origins of cinema in arms and astronomyand traces the development of the mug shot to data analysis and racist eugenics theories. Anthonys work is experiential, his sense of discovery, personal; he attends public meetings in Baltimore regarding the deployment of satellite cameras for street surveillance in predominantly Black neighborhoods, and finds the technology's roots in trench warfare. For Anthony, unexamined history perpetuates its injusticesand his film dramatizes the artistic labor that fosters change.

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All Light Everywhere - The New Yorker

AMHERST COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) State and local officials are trying to get 350 acres of land in Amherst County cleaned up, zoned, and occupied. Its the campus of what was the Central Virginia Training Center (CVTC), with a history dating all the way back to 1910.

While CVTC helped many disabled residents over the years, those grounds are also where a very dark chapter in American history played out.

Megan Lucas, CEO of Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance (LRBA), is excited about what will become of the land.

We have an opportunity to really telescope the vision for the future of our region, Lucas said. There are still a lot of hurdles associated with this piece of property.

Before the federal government shut it down a process that took a decade and finally finished in 2020 CVTC had a yearly economic impact of more than $87 million. Now, that economic impact is gone and the LRBA is working with the Commonwealth to get the land thriving once again.

The hurdles, however, are significant. There are 98 buildings on site, mostly full of asbestos and lead-based paint. There are roughly $30 million in bonds tied to the property, but there has been interest.

According to Lucas, Ive had a meeting with a developer in Dallas who is interested in the site. Ive had meetings with local developers who are interested in the site and weve received calls from folks who are interested as well.

Author Dr. Paul Lombardo has not called, but he has a request.

I think that, at the very least, the state should ensure, and the people there in Lynchburg should ensure, that the memories of what happened there are not somehow scrubbed away, Dr. Lombardo said.

Dr. Lombardo is referring to a stain on the history of Virginia and several other states, a reprehensible program that took place on CVTCs grounds: eugenics.

Back then, many states forcibly sterilized thousands of residents, men and women because they were fed by the notion that socially unfit people, those with intellectual disabilities, criminals, the poor, and those deemed to be without morals would pass those traits onto their children.

There are headlines from the era which basically say eugenics is the way to lower taxes, Dr. Lombardo explained. Well eliminate hospitals. Well eliminate asylums and various kinds of places where we take care of people at public cost. Well eliminate poverty, so we wont have to worry about people in that setting. And these are all used as financial reasons that we need to have sterilization laws.

Dr. Lombardo wrote a book about eugenics: Three Generations, No Imbeciles, after he was shocked when he read about a Virginia case, Buck v. Bell, that made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1927, and the blunt opinion written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., giving the Commonwealth legal permission to sterilize a woman named Carrie Buck.

It read, in part, Instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind.

Holmes then referred to the Buck family, saying, three generations of imbeciles are enough.

Adolf Hitler found that ruling, and the entire eugenics program quite appealing, helping lead Nazi Germany to its program of racial cleansing.

Over the years, what started as the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded became the Central Virginia Training Center.

Now, decades after the last reported sterilization occurred there in 1956, and a few years after the final disabled patients were served there, the land must start yet another chapter.

A feasibility study has been underway and should be completed within the next few months.

Lucas points to the many possibilities, mixed-use residential, corporate park scenarios, retail, restaurants, and breweries across the James River from the City of Lynchburg.

She and Dr. Lombardo also want a plan to remember, some sort of memorial to the people whose lives were impacted by the facility, whether it be from its inception as the colony, where the concept of eugenics was created, or to the people who lived here and were treated for various disabilities, or to the lives that were buried on that land in the seven-acre cemetery on site. Approximately 1,500 people are buried there.

In the words of Dr. Lombardo, I think theres a great deal of remembering that needs to go on.

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What does the future hold for Central Virginia Training Centers land? - WFXRtv.com

Richard Dawkins, renowned biologist and emeritus professor at the University of Oxford, has stated that it is immoral to bring a child with Downs Syndrome into the world.

What is actually immoral, though, is to look at a world not built for disabled people including those with Downs and agree that they are the problem, rather than the inherent inaccessibility and ableism that runs rampant in our society.

While speaking to RTE presenter Brendan OConnor recently, Dawkins was challenged about an exchange he had in 2014, where he told a Twitter user who mentioned the ethical dilemma of having a baby with Downs Syndrome, that they should: Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.

Although Dawkins admitted that he had put his view a bit too strongly, he doubled down by saying: It seems to me to be plausible that you probably would increase the amount of happiness in the world more by having another child instead [of one with a disability.

What Dawkins argued whilst also stating that he has never met a person with Downs Syndrome is that people with trisomy 21 (another name for Downs Syndrome) are a drain on the world, offer nothing and are not functioning members of society. I turn to my brother at this point.

Luke, who is now 23, takes his role as big brother very seriously. He is concerned if Im ever ill, and wanted to make sure I was drinking a lot of water after I had my dose of the Pfizer vaccine. He is also very proud whenever I write an article, and reads them all very seriously. Hes offered to be my agent, so I have that box ticked. Luke also has Downs Syndrome.

This doesnt mean he isnt strong or wonderful. In fact, when I called to check in on how he was doing after he had his vaccine, he simply told me he was strong and brave and thus doing fine, and I had nothing to worry about.

He also prior to the pandemic has a job as a catering assistant at a big school in London, with garlic bread duty being his favourite role. Luke is everything that is right about a human being, including his extra chromosome. I cant be too nice though, because I am still his little sister and sibling rivalry will always exist beyond and above health conditions. In short, Luke and everyone else Ive ever met with Downs is a representation of why Dawkins argument is so wrong.

The people we should be fighting against are the people who argue that those with disabilities are less than or are a drain, a burden or a mistake. Ensuring that his argument involved well-rounded offence, Richard Dawkins also said that women who brought children with Downs Syndrome into the world were immoral.

Bethany and her brother Luke

(Bethany Dawson)

Women can choose what to do with their pregnancies. My parents didnt know that my brother had Downs before he was born, but they knew there was a 25 per cent chance that I had it (based upon prenatal testing when I was in-utero, also known as the last time I got a good nights sleep). My mother did what she wanted to with her pregnancies, and made a choice based on the resources available to her and her personal opinions. A parents choice is their own to make. Its not anyone elses decision.

The so-called argument against the existence of people with Downs Syndrome (I say so-called, because, in reality, its just eugenics) lacks any form of nuance. It doesnt recognise disabled people as individuals. It takes the horrible, inherently ableist view that a person with a disability is less-than, and thus judges them as not worthy of life.

The discourse that Dawkins has employed uses the medical model of disability, wherein physical differences are regarded as the sole disabling factor within a disabled persons existence. In reality, however, the social model of disability wherein ableism and a structural lack of accessibility are viewed as the primary disabling element of existence is more accurate.

Life would be easier if disability was not seen as such a dirty word. As well as being the sibling to a disabled person, I too am disabled with a number of medical conditions that alter my everyday existence. But, because I look healthy, and present in the ways that people deem acceptable (Im independent, have a job, a degree, an active social life etc.), I will never be painted with the same brush as my brother.

Roughly 1 in 1,000 babies born have Downs Syndrome, making it more common than having red hair. Its the most common chromosomal disorder and this is one of the reasons why we must make the world a better place for people with Downs, and fight to show people like Dawkins why they are so wrong.

Disability Downs Syndrome is common, normal and needs to be treated as such.

Luke gave his express consent to have this article written

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Richard Dawkins argument against women having babies with Downs Syndrome is nothing more than eugenics - The Independent

ACLU has not apologized for its support of racism in the past

To the editor:

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 to support freedom of speech. The ACLU has courageously supported freedom of speech in some cases, notably the Jehovahs Witness and the violent racists attack of African American physician Ossian Sweet who moved into a White neighborhood in Detroit. Inexplicably, they have consistently refused to defend teachers terminated for rejecting human evolution based on racism.

For the first five years of their existence, the ACLU had virtually no success in furthering the organizations goals. That all changed in 1925 when the ACLU persuaded teacher John T. Scopes to defy Tennessees new anti-evolution law that did not permit teaching human evolution in government funded public schools.

Atheist Clarence Darrow, a leading supporter and member of the ACLU National Committee, headed Scopes legal defense team. The prosecution was led by a leading Democrat, William Jennings Bryan. The law, the Butler Act, opposed teaching only human evolution in government schools, not the evolution of reptiles, birds nor even apes. The pretense for the opposition of the Butler act was to defend the separation of church and state. Bryan, a progressive nicknamed The Commoner for fighting for the common people, believed all humans were descendants of Adam and Eve, thus all were the same race, the human race. A specific concern was the high school textbook Civic Biology by George Hunter, then widely used in America including Tennessee.

On page 196, Hunter wrote under the subheading The Races of Man, At the present time there exists upon the earth five races or varieties of man, each very different from the other .... These are the Ethiopian or negro type, originating in Africa ... and the highest type of all, the Caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America. Under the subtitle Eugenics, Hunter wrote, The science of being well-born (is actually) eugenics. He then added, Hundreds of families have become parasitic on society. They not only do harm to others by corrupting, stealing, or spreading disease ... They take from society, but they give nothing in return. They are true parasites ... If such people were lower animals, we would probably kill them off to prevent them from spreading. Humanity will not allow this, but we do have the remedy of separating the sexes in asylums (and) preventing intermarriage and the possibilities of perpetuating such a low and degenerate race (page 261).

Professor Tontonoz in his study of the case correctly observed that Bryan could accept that lower species had evolved from simpler forms, but he refused to apply the doctrine to humans. To do so was, in effect, to lend implicit support to troubling social policies and ideologies, such as racism and eugenics. In short, Bryan aggressively opposed racism, and the ACLU aggressively opposed Bryan. One disturbing result of the trial was racism being openly taught in many biology textbooks until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s ended this long term practice. In fact, one of the major pieces of evidence for human evolution was Neanderthal man, today acknowledged as fully human. Another major evidence of human evolution was Piltdown man, proven as an elaborate hoax in 1953. The third common evidence of evolution was so-called inferior races including Australian Aborigines and American Blacks. I collect old biology textbooks which include many illustrations featuring these examples of our evolutionary ancestors.

The ACLU has never apologized for their support for these once popular icons of human evolution which were not purged from textbooks and popular books until the 1960s.

Jerry Bergman, PhD.

Montpelier, Ohio

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ACLU has not apologized for its support of racism in the past - KPCnews.com

Photo credit: Fronteiras do Pensamento [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

I have rarely seen a more vivid illustration of the lethal consequences of utilitarian thinking. In 2014, Richard Dawkins was asked on Twitter what a woman carrying a Down baby should do.His responsewas blunt and curt:

Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.

On what possible basis could it be immoral to bring one of these sweet and loving people into the world?

Seven years later, he explainedin a podcast interview(ostensibly, about his new book) with Brendan OConnor, the father of a child with Down syndrome. After some interesting back-and-forth about the importance of science, scientists and religion, and COVID, Dawkins was asked directly about the above tweet. The famousatheism prosylitizer explained:

That was probably putting it a bit too strongly. But given that the amount of suffering in the world probably does not go down, but probably does go up compared to another child who does not have Down syndrome . . .

When eliminating suffering because societys first priority instead of protecting innocent human life it very easily metastasizes intoeliminating the sufferer. And the suffering need not even be that of the person eliminated, but of family or society. Utilitarianism always leads to justifying killing.

OConnor interrupted Dawkins at that point and asked how he knows that there would be less suffering. Dawkins responded:

I dont know for certain. It seems to me to be plausible. You probably would increase the amount of happiness in the world more by having another child instead.

Good grief, if human life has intrinsic value that is, it matters morally simply because one is human the issue of whether there is more or less suffering, or more or less happiness, is utterly irrelevant! Indeed, if we are to maintain humane, equal, and moral societies if we are to protect the weak, vulnerable, and dependent such considerations must be of no consequence whatsoever.

OConnor pushed back:

OConnor: But you have no reason for knowing that.

Dawkins: I have no direct evidence.

OConnor(sarcastically): OK. You know youre such a scientific, logical person I thought you could possibly have some logical backup to it.

Of course, this isnt an issue of science but of morality and ethics. Do we have the love in our hearts to embrace these beautiful people? These days, so many precious people with Down syndrome are aborted, meaning so few are born that we are all the losers.

Dawkins admits he doesnt know anyone with Down syndrome and OConnor says that everyone has their own experience of it and that there are many who think he is not necessarily right.

OConnor: Do you think it would be immoral not to do it?

Dawkins: Lets leave out the immoral.

OConnor: You brought immoral into it.

Dawkins: Okay. I take that back. But it would be wise and sensible.

OConnor: Do you know children who are so-called perfect can cause terrible suffering in the world too. But I suppose we have no way of checking.

Dawkins. No. Of course.

I am glad OConnor handed Dawkins his lunch. But we need to reflect: Dawkinss attitude illustrates the consequences that flow directly from rejecting human exceptionalism which Dawkinshas done repeatedlyover the years. Human unexceptionalism (if you will) has led to so much evil in the world that it cant be quantified from slavery andJim Crow to eugenics and genocide.

Gratifyingly, Dawkins is beinghit with the brickbatsthat he so richly deserves.

Cross-posted at The Corner.

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Dawkins: Wise and Sensible to Abort Babies with Down Syndrome - Discovery Institute