Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts

Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts

"A must-read for all those who claim to care about racial and gender justice in America." —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

Killing the Black Body remains a powerful and urgent call to action for education, awareness, and the extension of **reproductive justice** to all women. Even two decades after its original publication, its message is as crucial as ever.

A Groundbreaking Look at Systemic Injustice

First published in 1997, this groundbreaking book made a significant impact on the national conversation about race and reproductive rights. At a time when media narratives were dominated by harmful, racially biased stereotypes like "welfare queens" and "crack babies," Dorothy Roberts fearlessly exposed America's long history of systemic abuse against Black women’s bodies.

Roberts traces these abuses through generations, from slave masters' economic reliance on the fertility of enslaved women to government programs in the 1970s that coerced thousands of poor Black women into sterilization. This historical analysis reveals a pattern of degrading Black motherhood and a deliberate exclusion of Black women's reproductive needs from both mainstream feminist and civil rights movements.

“Compelling. . . . Deftly shows how distorted and racist constructions of black motherhood have affected politics, law, and policy in the United States.” —Ms.

This book is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the deep, interconnected histories of racial injustice and reproductive oppression in the United States.