Planned Parenthood and Racism

I submitted this letter to the editor on March 10, 2008 to the Moscow–Pullman Daily News. I think they printed it soon after.

     Regarding "Racism and Planned Parenthood Connection" by Ed Iverson in your March 8 issue, it stands to reason that racism can be found within Planned Parenthood, given that racism can be found in almost every American institution. There has been and in many cases still is individual and institutional racism in the real estate industry, the political parties, labor unions, schools, companies, churches, social organizations, and so on. Even anti-racist organizations have workshops at which they discover racist attitudes and practices in their hearts and ranks.
     American society is culturally evolving away from racism. It behooves us all, Planned Parenthood not excepted, diligently to find and replace any racist attitudes and practices in ourselves and our institutions.
     One manifestation of racism and classism in the American caste and class system has been the notion that character and behavior are determined by genes. The loony line of reasoning is that poverty, with its problems, is caused by character flaws caused by bad genes, which those in the wrong races have more of. This used to be a widespread way of thinking and led to government programs of forced sterilization. Certainly any American organization involved in matters of birth should examine itself for any hint of such thinking in its history and now.
     It does not follow that anti-racist Americans should not use a real estate service or join or support a political party, labor union, school, company, church, or social organization, or an organization that teaches birth control methods, that is not yet 100% untainted by racism. Human institutions, like humans, are invariably a mix of good and bad, so the question in choosing friends and institutions is which predominates. Does not Planned Parenthood predominantly do what is good and commendable?

          Brian Leekley
          Moscow, Idaho