Mexican Americans Sterilized Disproportionately In California Institutions, Study Says: When a woman identified by the pseudonym of Minelva entered Pacific Colony, a California “home for the feebleminded,” she had suffered rape and a life of poverty, and spent much of her adolescence trying to escape from juvenile detention or state boarding homes. Viewing those experiences as symptoms of genetic and mental deficiency, Pacific Colony’s doctors diagnosed her as a sexually deviant “high moron.” They ordered her to be sterilized without her consent in October of 1936 at the age of 16, dismissing the pleas of her parents, who objected to the operation on religious grounds.
The case of Minelva’s 1936 sterilization order is one of thousands unearthed by researchers Alexandra Stern and Natalie Lira of the University of Michigan, who authored a new study that reveals Mexican Americans were disproportionately sterilized in California during the first half of the 20th century. The study is currently undergoing peer review for publication in an academic journal.
