Publication from the American Eugenics Party (AEP) on how the beauty of races are determined by scientific racism. The publication suggests there is a “degeneration” of beauty standards in society because they believe beauty has been incorrectly defined as being “dictated by environment or heredity”. The AEP argues that beauty is “hereditarily determined” by a “hereditary sensory mechanism” where a “normal” sensory mechanism prevents a person from having a physical appearance that is "not too predominant or too subdued” which determines beauty.
The publication outlines the “Basic Eugenic Program” as the promotion and preservation of “universal eugenic standards” through the implementation of “type”, “quality”, and “quantity” control. The Basic Eugenic Program designates different types of beauty for different purposes, and, for each purpose, the “one best” beauty type is determined by “quality comparisons” which follows the “maintenance of correct quantity” of the optimal beauty type.
Also included is an evaluation of Black Americans’ physical appearance rooted in scientific racism. The AEP suggests that Black Americans’ skin colour, facial features, “head shape”, “hair type”, “skin structure”, and “body type” represent the extreme deviations from the “positive” physical traits and appearances of white people therefore making them “the ugliest race”. The AEP provides an additional section titled “other negro negativities” which include discussions on mental faculties, sickle cell anemia, voice quality, and body weaknesses and odour. The publication concludes that all Black Americans “be settled in Africa” along with a call to help popularize eugenic principles.
American Eugenics Party