Tuesday, August 8
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Registration Required
Read and Reflect Discussion Group is part of the Conversations: Truth, Myth & Democracy Series
Join us for our next Read and Reflect virtual session, where we’ll reflect on our country’s dark history with eugenics and its intersection with the American dream.
To focus our discussion, we’ve selected both a novel and a documentary that delve into the issue. Participants are encouraged to read the book and watch the film then reflect on the interplay of the two.
Our virtual discussion will be moderated by Tom Kilbourn, ordained Episcopal priest and retired JBHS English Teacher.
Novel
This Other Eden by Paul Harding. Inspired by a true story that occurred on Malaga Island, an isolated island off the coast of Maine that became one of the first racially integrated towns in the Northeast. It is an enduring testament to the struggle to preserve human dignity in the face of intolerance and injustice.
Copies of the book are available at the Library.
Documentary
A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics and the American Dream. This award-winning 2016 film is a disturbing exposition of a prolonged myth — or fabrication — that continues to cause immeasurable harm to our civil order and our fragile democracy.
This documentary is available to stream on various sites.
An alternative: Watch the YouTube video: The History of Eugenics in America: A panel discussion at the National Constitution Center, May 3, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rt1YWvV1fA
Register below to receive a Zoom link on the morning of the program and include a cell number for a text reminder.
This discussion is part of the Conversations Series, created in partnership by the Redding League of Women Voters and the Mark Twain Library. This award-winning series offers opportunities to continue and expand conversations on race, justice and democracy. Community members can exchange ideas, hear differing perspectives and talk about our ever-evolving democracy.
Registration is currently closed for this event.