Myth of the "Crack Baby"

One part of the reading that really broke my heart was section about the myths of the crack babies. African American women were influenced by doctors to take birth control or to undergo sterilization because of the myth of the crack baby. The myth was that many African American women were giving birth to crack babies, and that these babies were going to have major birth defects, or grow up to be delinquents. The facts are that white women are just as likely to smoke some from of crack while on their pregnancy as African American women. Another fact that was mentioned in the book, was that many children whose mothers engaged in drug use while pregnant, where not addicted to crack when they were born. There were some minor birth defects, but all-in-all, there should not have been a reason for African American women to be singled out to take birth control or to not have babies. This is a clear sign of eugenics that was going on in America not that long ago. And in some ways, is still prevalent.