Eugenics and the Immigration Act of 1924 (with Daniel Okrent)

Daniel Okrent joins the show to talk about his new book, The Guarded Gate, which tells the tells the story of the scientists who argued that certain nationalities were inherently inferior, providing the intellectual justification for the harshest immigration law in American history. Brandished by the upper class Bostonians and New Yorkers—many of them progressives—who led the anti-immigration movement, the eugenic arguments helped keep hundreds of thousands of Jews, Italians, and other unwanted groups out of the US for more than 40 years.

What was the Chinese Restriction Act? What is eugenics? When was eugenics applied to certain racial groups? Who was Samuel Gompers? What scientific reasoning did eugenists use? Did the Nazi’s follow American scientists? What does eugenics and birth control have in common? 

Further Reading:

The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other Europeans out of America, written by Daniel Okrent

When the government used bad science to restrict immigration, written by David A. Hollinger

The Passing Of The Great Race; Or, The Racial Basis Of European History, written by Grant Madison

Related Content:

Science vs. Politics: Vaping, Eugenics, and Other Policy Questions, written by Helen Dale

Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics, and American Economics in the Progressive Era, Free Thoughts Podcast

Genetics, Encyclopedia of Libertarianism

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