1. The 1920s marked a significant time in the history of the United States. This decade was filled with many leaps and bounds in social movements, cultural movements, and technological revolutions. Thanks to the standardized production of commercial goods, introduction of jazz, and the media revolution that came with radio and film, the country began to have cohesive cultural understanding that swept up the general populace. Most significantly on the world stage, the United States dollar replaced the British pound among international trade. This singlehandedly has kept the United States as a global leader even today 100 years later. However, this decade was filled with hatred and bigotry as most were before it. In this time, nativism took off as a strong social movement that sought to make immigrants "fit in" with the newly defined American culture. This inevitably leads to the eugenics movement in the United States, and ultimately the world.
2. The end of Prohibition lead to Billie Holiday becoming a target of the federal government particularly due to narcotic agents of the time seeking to make an example out of a popular cultural icon who struggled with alcohol and drug abuse in large part due to her tragic childhood. Harry Anslinger, the original man who pushed the first domino in the war on drugs, was bitter that his work during Prohibition was overturned by the end of Prohibition. His racism was so extreme, that he was considered an extremist even in his time period. He also held hatred for drug addicts in particular. Because of these two factors, and the elevation of Billie's stardom, Anslinger chose to target her particularly.
3. With the rise of the Eugenics movement, forced sterilizations began to become more common place in states who bought into the concept. In the case of Buck v. Bell, a woman named Carrie Buck, was accused of being an "imbecile" by her foster family. This accusation did not come from actual meaningful evidence, but was instead meant to silence her as her foster family had raped Carrie. Institutionally, doctors wanted this case to fall in favor of Bell, as it would help support their eugenics hypothesis since Carrie's mother was determined to be "feebleminded". This case went up to the Supreme Court which determined that it was in fact Constitutional for a state to force sterilization on Carrie.
2. The end of Prohibition lead to Billie Holiday becoming a target of the federal government particularly due to narcotic agents of the time seeking to make an example out of a popular cultural icon who struggled with alcohol and drug abuse in large part due to her tragic childhood. Harry Anslinger, the original man who pushed the first domino in the war on drugs, was bitter that his work during Prohibition was overturned by the end of Prohibition. His racism was so extreme, that he was considered an extremist even in his time period. He also held hatred for drug addicts in particular. Because of these two factors, and the elevation of Billie's stardom, Anslinger chose to target her particularly.
3. With the rise of the Eugenics movement, forced sterilizations began to become more common place in states who bought into the concept. In the case of Buck v. Bell, a woman named Carrie Buck, was accused of being an "imbecile" by her foster family. This accusation did not come from actual meaningful evidence, but was instead meant to silence her as her foster family had raped Carrie. Institutionally, doctors wanted this case to fall in favor of Bell, as it would help support their eugenics hypothesis since Carrie's mother was determined to be "feebleminded". This case went up to the Supreme Court which determined that it was in fact Constitutional for a state to force sterilization on Carrie.