Sterilization victim "raped by the state of NC"

RALEIGH - At 57, Elaine Riddick has a house full of god children, great nieces and nephews, but only one child of her own - a son. When she was 14, Riddick was raped. The day she gave birth, doctors sterilized her on orders from the state of North Carolina.

"They said that I was feeble-minded, they said that I was promiscuous," Riddick tells CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Riddick was one of nine children, poor, from a broken home. Her illiterate grandmother signed the sterilization papers with an "x."

Watch below: Victim of state-sponsored sterilization speaks up

"I've always been able to take care of myself - I've never been promiscuous," Riddick says. "So how can people use these things to describe a child that had been abandoned? Or that had been raped by the neighbor and then again, raped by the state of North Carolina."

What happened to Riddick in North Carolina happened to more than 60,000 people in 32 states, from the 1920's to the 1970s under state-sanctioned sterilization programs aimed at cutting welfare costs.

"The people who were the focus of this movement were the dispossessed of society," says Paul Lombardo, of Georgia State University's College of Law. "In some cases, simply people of color."

North Carolina is the first state to consider making amends with a cash payment - $20,000 for each victim.

For Riddick, it's not nearly enough to make up for a lifetime of regrets and emotional scars. "I am mad! I am mad! And I'm tired of hiding my feelings and I want everyone to know what, who should pay."

Most of the sterilization laws, including North Carolina's, were written to give states immunity from lawsuits. North Carolina would have to set aside $69 million to pay all of the surviving victims. That's something lawmakers have not yet been willing to do.

Watch below: Sterilization victim: I was butchered

[oldman67]

Sterilization is going to happen to a lot of women without their knowledge in the future. If you don't believe me visit jeremiahproject.com See what the government has in store for many women and why. sterilization, abortion and vaccines.

[WeHappyFew]

aged,
my post stating "you are absolutely right " was in reply to your disbelief that I continually ocean hop . I'm afraid I had not seen your post vis a vis the time you thought it may be in Europe. If I were lying I would simply google the relevant time before replying. no?

You have repeatedly insinuated that I am a homosexual black man on welfare hailing from, as you put it, the north quadrant,
I have repeatedly told you not to assume.

Look,old basic, for one post between showing late night EST .


Anyhow.......... Back on the subject

As of yet I cannot find the statistics showing the incidence of these consenting sterilizations of minors per percentage of population but I will ASSUME, mental handicap notwithstanding, they will be heavily ethnic minority.






Anyhow,

[WeHappyFew]

This woman is only asking for the compensation the Jewish women received after being sterilized as young girls.

As I have said, imagine if you will, that Germany had prevailed in WWII. Over one hundred years later, say 2050, Germany, through protest, grows to accept civil rights and the remaining Jews THEN asked the courts for compensation for the treatment they have received as children

What do you think the German public would think of that? Would the people vindicated through victory see there was a case to answer?

[alllogicislost]

Of please "raped", the only people getting raped by this animal is the tax payer. Free housing, free food, free cellphone usage, free land-line usage, reduced or even free utilities. When the hell does it all end? The real reason she's crying is because she wasn't able to have her full liter of children to get all of the social perks, that her ghetto friends enjoy. What does she do for a living anyway? I like the part where 20,000 dollars wasn't enough; gibme dat, gibme mo' money. In the end its all about more money, isn't it? more money - give me more money. Where do I sign up for some free cash? I could use some.

[ccdsswrkr08]

by actornaught June 24, 2011 2:59 PM EDT
Forced Sterilization fans, wow.

You two are in the wrong country, wrong century.

Here's a clue: you could be on the list, too.
_____________________________________________________________

We live in a country that has the death penalty. Honestly forced sterilization for someone who abuses their children, rapes people, molests children, murders others, or sexually assaults someone is actually allowing them to get off pretty easy in my book.
So you think that people should just be allowed to continue to take advantage of a system meant to help people who are genuinely having a hard time through no fault of their own, and soak up resources so that heaven forbid you shoud ever be in trouble yourself, you cannot use those resources because they are now gone? I think they should make a reality show of the world you'd like to live in. I think it would look something like those post apocolyptic movies you see where all the resources are gone and people have de-evolved to an animal like state just to survive.

[WeHappyFew]

Sadly CBS does not seem to like my posts so I shall re-iterate.

Dear Aging,

I have attempted to answer your accusations that I post all night on many occasions. I have stated

a) This is a world wide web.................no?
b) My husband works for an international investment bank.............any clue?
c) I pay tax on two continents.................penny dropped?


At the risk of insulting your intelligence, I'm posting from Europe.

I hope that clears things up for you.

The pleasure is all mine, as usual.

Kindest regards

"Wee Happy"

ps. I must learn to make myself plain. In my, as you were so kind to point out, badly crafted polemic below, I was identifying myself as white, not yourself.

[WeHappyFew]

Apparently you seem to have some difficulty with the international time zones. Let me point out that Europe is between six and eight hours ahead of Alabama. I'm afraid you will not be able to bait me to give you details anymore specific than that. Given these facts is it the middle of the night, at the moment, here?

[WeHappyFew]

You're absolutely right. I don't jump across the ocean much as even our mutual friend Empire worked out when I divulged my husband was a Brit. I live in Europe. I'm sorry if you don't believe me I wouldn't want to either as it makes you look kind of stupid.

The first time you accused me of posting all night was when I first wrote "world wide web you aren't very bright are you?" and that I had Quantico on the line for you. You replied that your daughter had trained there before shipping to Iraq. Remember?

[WeHappyFew]

IS it the middle of the night here? It was a question OBG.

[WeHappyFew]

3am Eastern standard time is between 9 and10 o'clock in the morning my time dependent on which home I'm staying at.
3 pm would be between 9 and 10 o'clock in the evening.

Does that help you?

[eightyliz]

i am saddened to read the comments of so many who apparently do not believe the words "liberty and justice for all" that we all learned as children or naturalized citizens.

the point of this story is not welfare or anything else so many are reading into it. it is simply the failure of the state to protect the individual. that's the whole point of a government, especially a democracy like ours. it's a terrible failure that hurts us all.

[eightyliz]

@agingfundamentalfemale1
barbarism always justifies the means with the ends.

[sandee713]

I feel for this woman and what she went through. But to repeatedly states this was done without her consent - in those days and at her age, she probably had no idea what sterilization meant and her consent wasn't required only her guardians and the state was wrong to do it but her legal guardian consented..... Instead of trying to collect over a wrong, how about learning a lesson from it as a society

[WeHappyFew]

The state has a duty of protection to minors. If a policy offends human decency, its 'legality' at the time is no excuse. Without invoking Godwin's law, most of atrocities the Nazi regime carried out was passed by law by a government that had been democratically elected.......doesn't make it right because it was "in those days...."

The victor writes history. Do you suppose Jews would have such sympathy had their tormentors prevailed, however inclusive Germany may have eventually become?

Now without having the statistics to hand, outside of the mentally handicapped, I would like to see the incidence per percentage of population for race and socio-economic status.

[ccdsswrkr08]

by skyk1 June 24, 2011 7:09 AM EDT
ccdsswrkr08, YOU are a bigot Spuds... You do NOT know any of the people effected, you do not know or care HOW they ended up in that position. All you care about is YOURSELF and anyone who needs to be trashed or thrown under the bus to HELP you with that goal is okay. Do you READ your own post?
___________________________________________

Um, I do know the people effected in my area. I grew up in the area. I've lived around the people I assist all my live. I know their stories backwards and fowards. So again, learn a lil before you spout off. I've been in the same position as some of my clients, so you can kiss it if you think I have no compassion. If I had no compassion I would not be doing the job I do. Seems like YOUR the one not reading my posts.

[WeHappyFew]

Apparently some posters would have to cross an event horizon into another dimension of space and time before they could comprehend that white, upper middle class, educated, professionals are able support the right of any woman not to be forcibly sterilised no matter her socio-economic or ethnic status. Without being (you've guessed it) self hating or suffering from 'white guilt'.

Allow me to me add my own stereotype bias. I'm guessing these posters are Southern rednecks boasting crashingly mediocre educational achievements.

[WeHappyFew]

Chr*st almighty, oldbasic,

I'll finally spell it out for you as my heavy hints in the past were not clear enough for you.

Clue I www. That's world wide web. Penny dropped?
Clue II My Husband works for an international investment bank. Light Dawned?
Clue III My household pays tax on two continents. Any ideas?

I'm posting from Europe!



Imissed a word out typing so what thats the best you have

[ccdsswrkr08]

by agingfundamentalfemale1 June 24, 2011 9:15 AM EDT
Exactly, ccdsswrkr08!

My sister went to work as a grocery cashier when her construction worker husband's business started a decline due to the economy. She says the abuse of the food stamp "debit care" is rampant. She has to stand there and let it happen to keep her job. She has reported to me that one woman will come in with 5 or 6 cards which she can't keep the passwords straight on and it takes forever to check out her various "purchases".

I was visiting the local social security office to get an error corrected in my ss information, and overheard an office worker there telling a client that she "didn't need" to report some income and "didn't she want to redo" the form she was handing in. The worker informed her that she would lose her benefits if she reported the income, and "with Christmas coming, I know you need the money" was the way she convinced the lady.

Fraud is abundant. Not only the "rich" fail to pay their taxes. The "poor" have a way of getting around paying for anything! Yet let the middle class working man make a simple mistake on his taxes, and the IRS is on him like white on rice!
_______________________________________________________

You hit the nail on the head. Another real problem is it's making it even harder for the people who actually need the help to get it because we have so many abusing it, its hard to tell the difference.