10. “Criminals should be sterilised and feeble-minded persons forbidden to leave offspring behind them.”
This pro-eugenics quote from 1914 brings full-circle Roosevelt’s belief in an all-powerful government which controls every facet of our lives. Rather than working to rehabilitate criminals and have empathy toward their situations, Roosevelt apparently thinks that crime is some sort of disease that should be eradicated. One may also wonder if this quote was made with minority groups in mind, further showing Roosevelt’s racism and hatred toward those who are not what he believes to be “normal.”
