{"product_id":"pure-america-eugenics-and-the-making-of-modern-virginia-9781948742733","title":"Pure America: Eugenics and the Making of Modern Virginia","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2022 PEN America John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, a \"riveting and tightly argued\" history of eugenics and its ripple effects, by acclaimed historian Elizabeth Catte.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBetween 1927 and 1979, more than 8,000 people were involuntarily sterilized in five hospitals across the state of Virginia. From this plain and terrible fact springs Elizabeth Catte's \u003cem\u003ePure America\u003c\/em\u003e, a sweeping, unsparing history of eugenics in Virginia, and by extension the United States. Virginia's eugenics program was not the misguided initiative of well-meaning men of the day, writes Catte, it was a manifestation of white supremacy. It was a form of employment insurance. It was a means of controlling \"troublesome\" women and a philosophy that helped remove poor people from valuable land. It was cruel and it was wrong. As was amply evidenced by her acclaimed 2018 book \u003cem\u003eWhat You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia\u003c\/em\u003e, Catte has no room for excuses; no patience for equivocation. What does it mean for modern America, she asks here, that such buildings are given the second chance that 8,000 citizens never got?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Grounded, well-rendered, and highly disturbing,\" \u003cem\u003ePure America\u003c\/em\u003e is another necessary corrective to the historical record, a must-read for anyone concerned with how to repair its damage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Belt Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/02\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781948742733\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.40h x 5.00w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/30\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/15\/2020\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Elizabeth Catte","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44683435802805,"sku":"9781948742733","price":22.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_acfa5f68-6d44-4613-ae94-c06bc34b4d7f.jpg?v=1727795872","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/pure-america-eugenics-and-the-making-of-modern-virginia-9781948742733","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}