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27 Seton Hall L. Rev. 971 (1996-1997)
The Nature of Black's Skepticism about Genetic Testing

handle is hein.journals/shlr27 and id is 981 raw text is: The Nature of Blacks' Skepticism About Genetic Testing Dorothy E. Roberts* I. INTRODUCTION Professor C. Leonard Huskins taught a genetics course at McGill University during the 1930s with Arthur Steinberg.1 One day Huskins explained to the class why he had a keener interest in eugenics than Ste- inberg: Because Dr. Steinberg is a Jew, he believes that genetics has relatively little to do with intelligence and character .... Because I'm an Englishman, I believe that heredity has much to do with it.2 The lesson of this story is that people approach genetics from different per- spectives: those in powerful positions often find solace in genetic expla- nations of their superiority, while those in subordinate positions are more skeptical about genetics' explanatory power. The history of eugenics in America and Nazi Germany in the first half of this century tells us that genetic knowledge is susceptible to abuse.3 Racial minorities are particularly vulnerable to the misuse of ge- netic information.4 In a society in which Black traits are consistently de- valued, a focus on genetics will more likely be used to justify limiting Black reproduction rather than encouraging it. It is not surprising, then, that black Americans might be skeptical about the value of genetic test- * Professor, Rutgers University School of Law- Newark, New Jersey. I would like to thank Decanda Faulk for her valuable research assistance. 1 DANIEL J. KEVLES, IN THE NAME OF EUGE ICS: GENETICS AND THE USES OF HUMAN HEREDITY 232 (1985) (reporting author's interview with Arthur Steinberg). 2 Id. 3 See generally MARK HALER, Eugenics: Hereditarian Attitudes, in AMERICAN THoUGHT (1984); KEVLES, supra note 1; ROBERT N. PRocroR, RACIAL HYGIENE: MEDICINE UNDER THE NAZIS (1988). 4 See Patricia A. King, The Past as Prologue: Race, Class, and Gene Discrimina- tion, in GENE MAPPING: USING LAW AND ETmIcs As GUIDES 94, 103 (George J. Annas et al. eds., 1992); see also Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson & Elaine J. Hall, Reproductive Technol- ogy: Perspectives and Implications for Low-Income Women and Women of Color, in HEALING TECHNOLOGY: FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES 93, 109 (Kathryn Strother Ratoliff et al. eds., 1989). 971