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The Racial Integrity Law of 1924 of Virginia, United States, was a law that required the racial makeup of persons to be recorded at birth, and prevented marriage between "white persons" and non-white persons. The law was the most famous ban on miscegenation in the United States, and was overturned by the United States Supreme Court in 1967, in Loving v. Virginia
Wisconsin was the first State to enact legislation that required the medical certification of persons who applied for marriage licenses. The law that was enacted in 1913 generated attempts at similar legislation in other States. By 1924, 15 States had enacted similar legislation; however, unlike Virginia, many or most or all of those States failed to rigidly enforce their laws requiring specific qualities in all persons seeking to marry.
Senate bill 219 (SB 219) was approved on March 20, 1924. SB 219 is a separate law from SB 281, which was also approved on that day (along with other Acts). SB 281 is titled: An ACT to provide for the sexual sterilization of inmates of State institutions in certain cases. In some instances, those two bills have erroneously been regarded as being one law.
An exacerbating amendment or series of statutes to the Racial Integrity Law of 1924 was under consideration by the General Assembly in February, 1926. If adopted, the legislation would have brought the reclassification of thousands of "white" people. They would have became either "colored" or "nonwhite." Two former Governors would have been reclassified to being either "colored" or "nonwhite."
The Racial Integrity Law began to crumble on June 12, 1967 when the United States Supreme Court decided Loving v. Virginia. The portion of the law which had prohibited marriages between "whites" and "nonwhites" was found to be contrary to the guarantees of the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution. In 1975, Virginia's General Assembly repealed the rest of the Racial Integrity Act. In 2001, a bill (HJ607ER) passed by a vote of 85-10 in the House and 40-0 in the Senate. The bill expressed the General Assembly's profound regret for its role in the eugenics movement.
On May 2, 2002, Governor Mark Warner made several statements, amongst which are these: "In 1924, Virginia, like many other states, passed a law permitting involuntary sterilization. In 1927, Carrie Buck was the first person sterilized by the Commonwealth pursuant to that Law." "Last year the General Assembly passed a resolution expressing profound regret for the Commonwealth's role in the eugenics movement."
Perspective
Eugenics
Precursive activities which inexorably led to the Racial Integrity Law of 1924 began in
England in the 18th century. English physician and naturalist Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) had published, in prose, his Zoönomia (1794-96), expressing revolutionary ideas which contrasted sharply with the theocratic views of the times.
Erasmus Darwin believed that all animals transmit many of their traits to their descendants. In 1859, Charles Robert Darwin (1809-92), a grandson of Erasmus Darwin,
created much interest with his book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle of Life.
Violetta, the eldest daughter of Erasmus Darwin, gave birth to a son, Francis
Galton (1822-1911). He traveled extensively in Africa, from Egypt to Damaraland
(Namibia). Sir Francis Galton produced two famous articles on "Heredity, Talent and Character" which appeared in the July and August, 1865 issues of Macmillans Magazine. The two articles may be said to have definitely inaugurated the attempt to apply biological theories to the practical problem of the improvement of the human race. Human beings had practiced the selective breeding of plants and animals for many centuries.
Sir Francis Galton first employed the word "eugenics." His monumental work, Hereditary Genius, appeared in 1869. By 1900, the work of the two grandsons of Erasmus Darwin had been studied and accepted by many people. In 1900, the forgotten 1866 laws of Gregor Johann Mendel were rediscovered. The fundamental doctrine of eugenics is that of selection. In the United States, the segregation of human beings by race attempted to keep Caucasians from selecting Negroes as mates. Much attention was directed towards the aboriginal peoples, as well.
Eugenicists and ethnologists became very active after 1900. In 1905, Sir Francis Galton established a laboratory for eugenics at University College, London. He was knighted in 1909. He died January 17, 1911. Many books and other publications were produced in Europe and in America. Important men such as President Wilson(1856-1924) embraced racial separation or the making of laws such as the Racial Integrity Law of 1924. In 1924, Virginia enacted Senate Bill 219. More than one provision or specification was used to compose the law..
Amongst nations, Sweden became the first nation to closely inspect the lineages of its peasants. By 1924, Professor Lundborg of Uppsala University was directing those efforts.After the end of World War I, many nations around the world engaged in similar studies, but less thoroughly or to a lesser degree than Sweden.
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Racial Integrity Law of 1924
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