racial hygiene

Racial hygiene was a movement in the early 20th century aimed at improving a population's genetic "quality" by promoting certain "desirable" traits and discouraging or eliminating those deemed "undesirable." It often involved practices like sterilization of people with disabilities or hereditary conditions, and was rooted in racist and eugenic beliefs. Historically associated with racist ideologies, it was used to justify discrimination, forced sterilizations, and atrocities such as those during Nazi Germany. Today, racial hygiene is widely discredited and recognized as unethical, as it promoted prejudice and violated human rights under the guise of scientific improvement.