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The Mississippi Appendectomy 

Black women were often sterilized without their knowledge or consent during routine medical procedures, which became known as the "Mississippi appendectomy."

The Mississippi Appendectomy 

What: The Mississippi Appendectomy was a term coined by civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer to describe the involuntary sterilization of Black women, often without their knowledge or consent, under the guise of medical procedures. This practice, part of the broader eugenics movement in the United States, disproportionately affected poor and marginalized Black women, stripping them of their reproductive rights and contributing to ongoing systemic racial and gender oppression in healthcare.

When: 1920-1980

Where: Southern United States. 

Details: Black women were often sterilized without their knowledge or consent during routine medical procedures, which became known as the "Mississippi appendectomy." These procedures were part of a broader eugenics movement aimed at controlling the Black population. 

Why and How It Was Racist: This practice was rooted in eugenics and racial prejudice, aiming to reduce the Black population through coercive and deceptive medical practices. 

Sources: 


Websites
Allison. (2022, November 17). Black history month, Week 2: Fannie Lou Hamer. Obstetrics & Gynecology. https://obgyn.wustl.edu/black-history-month-week-2-fannie-lou-hamer/

Public Broadcasting Service. (2024, February 1). Unwanted sterilization and eugenics programs in the United States. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/unwanted-sterilization-and-eugenics-programs-in-the-united-states/

Sacks, T. K. (2019, January 24). The Mississippi appendectomy: Race and Reproductive Healthcare. OUP Academic. https://academic.oup.com/book/11417/chapter-abstract/160091333?redirectedFrom=fulltext%E2%80%AF+%27


Tafesse, K. (2019, May 1). What the “Mississippi appendectomy” says about the regard of the state towards the agency of Black Women’s Bodies. The Movement for Black Womens Lives. https://blackwomenintheblackfreedomstruggle.voices.wooster.edu/2019/05/01/what-the-mississippi-appendectomy-says-about-the-regard-of-the-state-towards-the-agency-of-black-womens-bodies/

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