we will speak with adam cohen, author of a new book called "imbeciles." stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "bad weather," the supremes. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn now to a new -- we turn up what has been described as one of the worst cases in history. the court upheld a statute that enabled the state of virginia to sterilize so-called mental defectives or imbeciles. the person in question was carrie buck, a poor, young woman then confined in the virginia state colony for epileptics and the feeble-minded, though she was neither epileptic nor mentally disabled. in the landmark decision, eight judges ruled that the state of virginia had the right to sterilize her. her mother, emma, as well as carrie's daughter, vivian, then only 8 months old, were deemed similarly deficient. justice oliver wendell holmes, jr., wrote the majority opinion concluding "three generations of , imbeciles are enough." amy: the decision resulted in 60,000 to 70,000 sterilizations of america

a history professor at new york university reviewed adam cohens book about state sponsored sterilization in the united states and the president's supreme court court case buck vs veal. it is noted in the late 1920's to 1950's sterilization in the united states caused tens of thousands of victims with california and a host of southern states leading the way. they were performed on poor southerns they recovered a nickname even. and the george w. bush released a book profiling the live of several afghanistan women. this work sounds the themes of confidence and self-improvement that can only be achieved when women raise their choices and overcome societal shame. laura bush wrote the forward and talks about her interest in working with the afghanistan women. >> after september 11th when the spotlight turned on afghanistan, american women, including myself, saw women who were marginalized and worked out in an idea of a government that would forbid half of its population from being educated was shocking to american men and women. ...

and we wrap up booktv in prime time at 11 with adam cohen. he looks at the use of eugenic sterilization in america by telling the story of carrie buck, a healthy young woman deemed an imbecile and sterilized in 1927. that all happens next on c-span2's booktv. first, a panel on human rights. ..watching booktv c-span2 live from the university of arizona. ... >> >> because you are enjoying the festival we hope you will become a friend of the festival. your tax-deductible contribution to the nonprofit will allow us to continue during this festival year after year and this is one of tucson's five decedents.h [applause]u you can is a distributed too see them. this is the time to turn off your cellphone san let's introduce them in get the show on the road.n. my good friend margaret i have known for more than 25th years. she has a lawn mower tw journalism awards the nike account and author of thes o two books.atto we also have to reset duncan and author of the guantanamo diary be in detention and at guantanamo since 2000 tou ensure it -- a judge orde

tells is infuriated we are pleased to bring this conversation tonight please join me to welcome adam cohen. [applause] >> host: it is a pleasure to be here thinking to harvard bookstore for hosting i used to spend a lot of time here when i was here in a previous life in the key for turning out i had a book party recently in the york in automatically went out it is called "imbeciles" book party. [laughter] what does it mean if they attended? site is is also the book talks so thank you for coming. [laughter] this feels like a homecoming we your equal distance between nine a freshman dorm and that paper were spent a lot of time so it takes me back. in 1927 the supreme court was asked to decide a simple question is should virginia be allowed to sterilize kerry barack? teetwenty rolf 42 had been declared to be feeble we did it lead to five decision that court ruled no part of the constitution and cannot offer for equal protection in a or due process to protect her from being sterilized against her will that it also strongly endorsed the eugenics movement of the clarion call to sterilize people

please join me in welcoming adam cohen. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. it's a pleasure to be here. i would like to thank harvard took store for hosting, a wonderful book stories to spend a lot of time and when i was here in a previous life. thank you for turning out including some old friends here. i had a book party in new york recently and the invitation that went out automatically set the "imbeciles" book party. some of my friends at acted about what it would be if they attended. this is also built as a "imbeciles" book touts. i want to thank you to come in and not even afraid. this filter mail at the homecoming between my freshman dorm which is a few hundred feet that way and we spent a lot of a lot of time and it feels great to be back. in 1927, the supreme court was asked to decide a simple question. should virginia be about to sterilize carrie buck, a 20-year-old inmate at the state colony for epileptics and people minded. written by justice oliver wendell holmes in the court ruled no part of the constitution, not equal protection, not to process

new york times book review david ocean ski, history professor at new york university reviewed adam cohen's new new book about state-sponsored sterilization in the united states. the president setting supreme court case bucket of the bill. professor notes that from the late 1920s until the 1950s forced sterilization in the united states would claim tens of thousands of victims in california and other states leading the way. the procedures were were performed to so often on poor white southerners that they acquired a nickname mississippi appendectomies. the george w. bush institute recently released a book which profiles the lives of several women in afghanistan were fighting for civil rights. the review says this work sounds -- hears for more first lady laura bush who wrote the forward talking about her interest in working with afghan women. >> right after september 11 when the spotlight turned on afghanistan, american women, including myself saw women who are marginalized, who are left out. the very idea of the government that would forbid half of its population from being educated was sho

then on tuesday we're in cambridge, massachusetts, at harvard bookstore for adam cohen's recount of the927 supreme court decision that permitted state sterilization of citizens deemed, quote, feeble-minded. on wednesday aclu attorney gillian thomas talked about title vii of the 1964 civil rights act which makes it illegal to discriminate based on someone's sex in new york. we're back in brooklyn thursday for journalist ann newman's examination on how new medical innovations and longer life expectancies have affected how people die in the united states. next saturday and sunday we're live at the tucson festival of books from the campus of the university of arizona. our all-day coverage on both days includes author panels and your calls with the hikes of historian douglas brink lin, jonathan cozell and linda hershman and teresa duncan. that's a look at some of the author programs booktv is covering this week. many of these events are open to the public. look for them to air in the near future on book tv on c-span2. >> there's this one thing that he'd written in 1962 which had never been p

and we wrap up booktv in prime time at 11 with adam cohen. he looks at the use of eugenic sterilization in america by telling the story of carrie buck, a healthy young woman deemed an imbecile and sterilized in 1927. that all happens next on c-span2's booktv. first, a panel on human rights. ..

okay, on the remaining items, adam clerk these called role >> supervisor wiener aye, yee aye, avalos aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohen aye farrell aye kim aye, mar aye, peskin the i tang aye. there are 11 aye >> those items are adopted in adversely >>[gavel] >> adam clerk please call adam 20 to >> item 22 resolution to establish city policy to maximize the percentage of affordable inclusionary housing market rate development report ordinance and to ensure fairness and feasibility. >> to proviso yee >> supervisor yee >> this is a resolution that will frame further work in defining our in establishing what is really needed with affordable housing would like to move with in the charter amendment that we on the june ballot. most of this with a timeframe that would like to do this so i had submitted resolutions last week and now there's been some discussion about certain language that i would like to amend and it's been agreed upon as a mentioned earlier so, the let me read out quickly, or highlight the summary of the amendment we are talking about. so, one of the amendment we included was the board of supervisors intend

okay, on the remaining items, adam clerk these called role >> supervisor wiener aye, yee aye, avalos aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenrrell aye kim aye, mar aye, peskin the i tang aye. there are 11 aye >> those items are adopted in adversely >>[gavel] >> adam clerk please call adam 20 to >> item 22 resolution to establish city policy to maximize the percentage of affordable inclusionary housing market rate development report ordinance and to ensure fairness and feasibility. >> to proviso yee >> supervisor yee >> this is a resolution that will frame further work in defining our in establishing what is really needed with affordable housing would like to move with in the charter amendment that we on the june ballot. most of this with a timeframe that would like to do this so i had submitted resolutions last week and now there's been some discussion about certain language that i would like to amend and it's been agreed upon as a mentioned earlier so, the let me read out quickly, or highlight the summary of the amendment we are talking about. so, one of the amendment we included was the board of supervisors intend to adop

okay, on the remaining items, adam clerk these called role >> supervisor wiener aye, yee aye, avalos aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenrrell aye kim aye, mar aye, peskin the i tang aye. there are 11 aye >> those items are adopted in adversely >>[gavel] >> adam clerk please call adam 20 to >> item 22 resolution to establish city policy to maximize the percentage of affordable inclusionary housing market rate development report ordinance and to ensure fairness and feasibility. >> to proviso yee >> supervisor yee >> this is a resolution that will frame further work in defining our in establishing what is really needed with affordable housing would like to move with in the charter amendment that we on the june ballot. most of this with a timeframe that would like to do this so i had submitted resolutions last week and now there's been some discussion about certain language that i would like to amend and it's been agreed upon as a mentioned earlier so, the let me read out quickly, or highlight the summary of the amendment we are talking about. so, one of the amendment we included was the board of supervisors intend to adop

okay, on the remaining items, adam clerk these called role >> supervisor wiener aye, yee aye, avalos aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenrrell aye kim aye, mar aye, peskin the i tang aye. there are 11 aye >> those items are adopted in adversely >>[gavel] >> adam clerk please call adam 20 to >> item 22 resolution to establish city policy to maximize the percentage of affordable inclusionary housing market rate development report ordinance and to ensure fairness and feasibility. >> to proviso yee >> supervisor yee >> this is a resolution that will frame further work in defining our in establishing what is really needed with affordable housing would like to move with in the charter amendment that we on the june ballot. most of this with a timeframe that would like to do this so i had submitted resolutions last week and now there's been some discussion about certain language that i would like to amend and it's been agreed upon as a mentioned earlier so, the let me read out quickly, or highlight the summary of the amendment we are talking about. so, one of the amendment we included was the board of supervisors intend to adop

considered separately >> seen no names on the roster, adam clark please call the roll >> on items 1-7 supervisor avalos aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohen aye, farrell aye, the camp absent among mar aye, the peskin aye, tang aye, wiener aye, yee aye there are 10 aye >> these items are fat pass any adopted unanimously >>[gavel] >> madam clerk, please will to item number 8 >> item 8 resolution to approve the agreement doing business as san francisco auto return for towing storage and disposal of abandon and illegally parked vehicles burn amount not to exceed 65.4 million to march 31, 2021 with the option to extend for up to 5 additional years. to approve a license proportion of the premises at 2650 bayshore blvd. and long-term vehicle storage and auction facility for five-year term in a five-year option. >> supervisor avalos >> thank you. colleagues, i'm still waiting to hear back from the mta whether they went down this or not get a believe we can actually be referred this to later in the agenda. that week we can do things sequentially. >> supervisor avalos, for clarification, i'm not certain we can make amendment to this particular cont

we will remove item 10 and on the remaining agenda, adam clerk please call the roll >> supervisor yee aye, avalos, aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenaye, farrell aye, kim aye mar aye, peskin aye, tang aye wiener aye there are 11 aye >> the items are passed in the first reading and adopted finally passed and approved unanimously. >>[gavel] >> please call item number 10 >> item 10 and ordinance woman the whole code to bring it tobacco retailers from selling tobacco products including smokeless tobacco electronic cigarettes to persons age 18, 19 or 20 >> supervisor wiener >> i apologize for not severing it to begin with. colleagues, last week we pass this important public health measure unanimously and thank you for your support. i look forward to passing again unanimously today. as you probably saw 2 days after we passed it, in an unexpected development, the state assembly passed pending state legislation to increase the tobacco purchase 8 221. it was unexpected because tobacco measures have frequently died in the state assembly that this is a wonderful step forward and the state senate will take up again this week. we don't know wha

we will remove item 10 and on the remaining agenda, adam clerk please call the roll >> supervisor yee aye, avalos, aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenaye, farrell aye, kim aye mar aye, peskin aye, tang aye wiener aye there are 11 aye >> the items are passed in the first reading and adopted finally passed and approved unanimously. >>[gavel] >> please call item number 10 >> item 10 and ordinance woman the whole code to bring it tobacco retailers from selling tobacco products including smokeless tobacco electronic cigarettes to persons age 18, 19 or 20 >> supervisor wiener >> i apologize for not severing it to begin with. colleagues, last week we pass this important public health measure unanimously and thank you for your support. i look forward to passing again unanimously today. as you probably saw 2 days after we passed it, in an unexpected development, the state assembly passed pending state legislation to increase the tobacco purchase 8 221. it was unexpected because tobacco measures have frequently died in the state assembly that this is a wonderful step forward and the state senate will take up again this week. we don't know wha

considered separately >> seen no names on the roster, adam clark please call the roll >> on items 1-7 supervisor avalos aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohen aye, farrell aye, the camp absent among mar aye, the peskin aye, tang aye, wiener aye, yee aye there are 10 aye >> these items are fat pass any adopted unanimously >>[gavel] >> madam clerk, please will to item number 8 >> item 8 resolution to approve the agreement doing business as san francisco auto return for towing storage and disposal of abandon and illegally parked vehicles burn amount not to exceed 65.4 million to march 31, 2021 with the option to extend for up to 5 additional years. to approve a license proportion of the premises at 2650 bayshore blvd. and long-term vehicle storage and auction facility for five-year term in a five-year option. >> supervisor avalos >> thank you. colleagues, i'm still waiting to hear back from the mta whether they went down this or not get a believe we can actually be referred this to later in the agenda. that week we can do things sequentially. >> supervisor avalos, for clarification, i'm not certain we can make amendment to this particular cont

we will remove item 10 and on the remaining agenda, adam clerk please call the roll >> supervisor yee aye, avalos, aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenaye, farrell aye, kim aye mar aye, peskin aye, tang aye wiener aye there are 11 aye >> the items are passed in the first reading and adopted finally passed and approved unanimously. >>[gavel] >> please call item number 10 >> item 10 and ordinance woman the whole code to bring it tobacco retailers from selling tobacco products including smokeless tobacco electronic cigarettes to persons age 18, 19 or 20 >> supervisor wiener >> i apologize for not severing it to begin with. colleagues, last week we pass this important public health measure unanimously and thank you for your support. i look forward to passing again unanimously today. as you probably saw 2 days after we passed it, in an unexpected development, the state assembly passed pending state legislation to increase the tobacco purchase 8 221. it was unexpected because tobacco measures have frequently died in the state assembly that this is a wonderful step forward and the state senate will take up again this week. we don't know wha

we will remove item 10 and on the remaining agenda, adam clerk please call the roll >> supervisor yee aye, avalos, aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenaye, farrell aye, kim aye mar aye, peskin aye, tang aye wiener aye there are 11 aye >> the items are passed in the first reading and adopted finally passed and approved unanimously. >>[gavel] >> please call item number 10 >> item 10 and ordinance woman the whole code to bring it tobacco retailers from selling tobacco products including smokeless tobacco electronic cigarettes to persons age 18, 19 or 20 >> supervisor wiener >> i apologize for not severing it to begin with. colleagues, last week we pass this important public health measure unanimously and thank you for your support. i look forward to passing again unanimously today. as you probably saw 2 days after we passed it, in an unexpected development, the state assembly passed pending state legislation to increase the tobacco purchase 8 221. it was unexpected because tobacco measures have frequently died in the state assembly that this is a wonderful step forward and the state senate will take up again this week. we don't know wha

adam clerk please call the roll >> on item 5, supervisor wiener nay, yee aye, avalos aye, breed nay, campos aye, cohen nay, farrell nay, kim aye, mar aye, peskin aye. tang nay. there are 6 vi and 5 nay with the tick the ordinance is finally passed speak out >> can we go to item the next item and call 6 and 7 together >> item 6 resolution to exactly approve amendment number 52 boarding areas bmc principal concession retail lease between pacific gateway concession in the city accident the lease term to possibly september 2019 and the lease term for one concession location to proximally june 2016 for a minimum annual lease amount of approximately $958,000 to accommodate the terminal one rita bowman program. item 7 is a resolution to approve the terms of the 2011 lease and lease agreement between china southern airlines company ltd. and the city with an estimated rent approximate 1.2 china southern airlines company ltd. and the city with an estimated rent approximate $1.2 million for abusive use for the lease term to commence following board of approval to june 30, 2021 good >> see no other names on the r

we will remove item 10 and on the remaining agenda, adam clerk please call the roll >> supervisor yee aye, avalos, aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohenr aye, peskin aye, tang aye wiener aye there are 11 aye >> the items are passed in the first reading and adopted finally passed and approved unanimously. >>[gavel] >> please call item number 10 >> item 10 and ordinance woman the whole code to bring it tobacco retailers from selling tobacco products including smokeless tobacco electronic cigarettes to persons age 18, 19 or 20 >> supervisor wiener >> i apologize for not severing it to begin with. colleagues, last week we pass this important public health measure unanimously and thank you for your support. i look forward to passing again unanimously today. as you probably saw 2 days after we passed it, in an unexpected development, the state assembly passed pending state legislation to increase the tobacco purchase 8 221. it was unexpected because tobacco measures have frequently died in the state assembly that this is a wonderful step forward and the state senate will take up again this week. we don't know what the governor is going to d

considered separately >> seen no names on the roster, adam clark please call the roll >> on items 1-7 supervisor avalos aye, breed aye, campos aye, cohen the camp absent among mar aye, the peskin aye, tang aye, wiener aye, yee aye there are 10 aye >> these items are fat pass any adopted unanimously >>[gavel] >> madam clerk, please will to item number 8 >> item 8 resolution to approve the agreement doing business as san francisco auto return for towing storage and disposal of abandon and illegally parked vehicles burn amount not to exceed 65.4 million to march 31, 2021 with the option to extend for up to 5 additional years. to approve a license proportion of the premises at 2650 bayshore blvd. and long-term vehicle storage and auction facility for five-year term in a five-year option. >> supervisor avalos >> thank you. colleagues, i'm still waiting to hear back from the mta whether they went down this or not get a believe we can actually be referred this to later in the agenda. that week we can do things sequentially. >> supervisor avalos, for clarification, i'm not certain we can make amendment to this particular contract so what are w