With all the talk regarding health care reform, I started thinking about the past eugenics programs in the United States, and how power allowed people to act on their prejudices.  (Before you read further, I offer this caveat: in the past, I have shopped at Brooks Brothers). 

A couple entries to northcarolinahistory.org describe the history of eugenics in North Carolina.   The Eugenics Board started in 1933.  After the formation of the Human Betterment League in 1947, the number of sterilizations increased, and minorities started being targeted; bureaucrats deemed them a drain on the welfare system