Eugenics

Eugenics - the scientific notion of selective breeding in humans - is commonly perceived as a negative concept thanks to its association with the Nazi regime and the pursuit of a superior race and the methods that were employed to meet that objective. The application of eugenics in the case of the Nazi regime included not only ethnic cleansing through the annihilation of millions of Jews but also a program to euthanize mentally and physically disabled infants, children and adults in the German population. The concept of eugenics is embraced by an identifiable movement in the medical and scientific fields that sees eugenics as a way to eliminate devastating diseases or inheritable mental or physical conditions. The concept of eugenics is most frequently applied to the prospect of preventing racial genetic mixing, serious advocates of eugenics suggest that it does not have to have any application to race in order to demonstrate improvements in humans.

Eugenics and Mixed Races

In fact, some experts argue that children from racially mixed marriages are actually somewhat healthier than non-racially mixed children and therefore eugenics would be irrelevant to improving humans in this regard. Advocates of eugenics argue that its application could have numerous benefits including but not confined to, higher intelligence and greater longevity. For most people however, the concept of achieving these benefits through methods that control who can marry whom and other restrictions on reproduction is disturbing even without a racial element.