Not for their own good : African American mental health and eugenic sterilization programs in Virginia

The experience of Central State Hospital, Virginia's sole mental hospital for African Americans, illustrates that unlike states in the deep south, Virginia developed substantial state-supervised and state-funded programs for its Black residents. Almost exclusively White state government officials and mental health authorities, influenced by eugenic theory, designed and implemented these programs to eradicate the dangers supposedly presented by African American mental illness and retardation. Contemporary perceptions of mental retardation and illness, race, and gender all play substantial, yet often subtle and even surprising roles in these policies. In exploring this subject, this essay will examine the philosophies, conditions, and policies of Central State Hospital, focusing on the years 1928 to 1972, the era of eugenic sterilization at Central State.