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Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon
Public information officer: Joan Aschim, (541) 463-5591, aschimj@lanecc.edu
Speaker: J. Morgan Ahern, (206) 463-1940, punkaheron@yahoo.com
For release November 8, 2005
Romani activist to discuss the history and practice of Eugenics
Eugene, Ore. - Noted international Romani (Gypsy) activist, J. Morgan Ahern, will present a talk on "Romani Perspectives on the History of Eugenics," at Lane Community College, Friday, November 18, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., in Building 19, Room 220, Eugene main campus.
Ahern will present that Eugenics is a pseudo-science that advocates the incarceration, sterilization and extermination of people considered to be unworthy of life. Reducing people to concepts of bad blood or bad genes has led to such beliefs that Gypsies (Roma) are congenital criminals and that African Americans are violent, she says. Ahern will examine both the historic roots and present day applications of Eugenics from the perspective of a Romani woman.
Ahern is a founder of Red Bandanna: Roma Against Racism. She is a freelance researcher, writer and lecturer. She has done numerous presentations for colleges, universities and high schools and has appeared on television and radio. She has been a featured speaker at places such as the International Women's Day Anti-War Rally in Seattle and the Progressive Labor Day Picnic.
The event is free and open to all.
Ahern also will speak at Temple Beth Israel on Saturday, November 19, from 4-6 p.m., on the relationship between Roma (Gypsies) and Jews in the Holocaust, throughout history and today. For further information on the TBI presentation contact Rabbi Maurice Harris at rabbimaurice@tbieugene.org.
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