The Eugenics of Luther Burbank: A Precursor to Cloning

The question is: was Luther Burbank a eugenicist? Based upon what he states in his writings, lectures and interviews, the answer is an unqualified yes. The next question then must be: did being a eugenicist make Luther Burbank a racist? Without a doubt the answer is yes. The Luther Burbank who "loved children" and nurtured delicate little daisy shoots to full blossom was a believer in and a proponent of the most insidious type of racism known. Eugenics, perfecting the human race by reproductive control, was and is a worldwide racist expression of "whiteness" designed to uphold, preserve, and advance the privileges of the white race by wearing the "mask of neutrality" worn by science. If the judgments made about certain groups of people are made using the scientific method, social policies are developed based on those scientific assumptions, and those policies implemented by scientists in controlled settings, then any actions taken would be considered "neutral", and in no way could they be construed as being racially motivated. This logic is what made eugenics the twentieth century's most insidious form of racism: its proponents camouflaged it as science, covered it in the language of objectivity, and masqueraded it before the world as "progress".