|
COMMITTED
by Kaponda
Native American resident of Michigan sues state for
forced sterilization he recieved as an orphan in a mental institution.
The land and surrounding waters mourned in silence for
Fred Aslin and his eight siblings after their abduction to the state mental
institution. The land and water would never again be aroused by the delicate
stewardship of Aslin and his Native American sisters and brothers.
During the height of World War II, in 1944, Aslin laid helpless on the
operating table at Lapeer State School, an old-fashioned mental institution
in Lansing, Michigan, where he was placed after his father died. In his
first years in the Spartan conditions of his room at the institution,
Aslin reflected on the invasive surgeries forced upon his brothers and
sisters by the state of Michigan. At age 18, he knew that sterilization
would ravage his Ottawa and Chippewa heritage, and; therefore, he had
refused to provide any consent to this genocidal scheme.
Like a tiger out of the wild, Aslin felt estranged as his eyes opened
to the closed-in walls of the bleak room. He was suddenly overcome by
a tingly sensation. Aslin knew at that instance that he had become the
last of his sisters and brothers to be "fixed." The people of the state
of Michigan had heard him reject any aspect of sterilization, but they
nevertheless visited this cruel act upon him under the pretense that he
did not measure up to the criteria set forth by the Legislature. He was
considered, according to the hideous standards of enlightened science,
intellectually inferior and had to be sterilized. These standards were
employed by many countries during World War II as the race for genetic
superiority progressed.
It would take the state of Michigan 50 years to discover the horrible
truth about Aslin. Before he was committed, Fred Aslin had the ability
to learn, understand or think abstractly as well as, if not better than,
any other citizen of the United States. He had always known that he was
not "mentally retarded" or a "feeble-minded moron," attributes given to
him by the state of Michigan.
On Tuesday, December 9, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt began his
speech to the nation by stating that, "The sudden criminal attacks perpetrated
by the Japanese in the Pacific provide the climax of a decade of international
immorality...."
Also, because of the barbarous practices by Germany, on September 20,
1945, the Allied Forces included, among other requirements to be imposed
on Germany, Section IX, paragraph 42(a), as an amendment to the June 5,
1945, Declaration. It states, in part, "....The German authorities will
comply with such directions as the Allied Representatives may issue for
the rescinding of German legislation involving discrimination on grounds
of race, colour, creed, language or political opinions and for the cancellation
of all legal or other disabilities resulting therefrom."
(top of article)
|
As Roosevelt identified the source of the evil of the 40's as "international
immorality," and as Germany had been brought to her knees and made to
vacate her blatant racist practices, 27 states in America were either
considering or had passed legislation allowing or mandating forced sterilization
of "mental defectives."
When Aslin was released from the mental institution, he left the memories
of the many belt beatings and knocks of hatred in the drab environment
of the Lapeer State School.
There was a great urgency for volunteers to participate in the Korean
campaign. Like so many other Americans, Japanese, Germans and others throughout
the world, across time and space, Fred Aslin demonstrated an unselfish
allegiance by defending his country for the posterity of others, since
his state had denied him any hope of namesakes only four years earlier.
Aslin displayed valor in his stand for his country. He sustained a life-threatening
wound to the lung, but never complained about Armed Forces policies although
racial discrimination and segregation prevailed.
On Friday, March 3, 2000, a probate judge dismissed a lawsuit against
the State of Michigan for his forced sterilization, lodged by Fred Aslin.
The judge stated that the three-year statute of limitation has run out
since the rights of Fred Aslin were violated by the state of Michigan.
However, his attorney, Lisa McNiff, urged him to appeal as there is a
precedent in the courts of Michigan to set aside the statute in situations
where an individual had no way of knowing that their rights were violated.
A successful appeal could have far-reaching consequences, as the 27 other
states which passed laws allowing forced sterilization of mentally disabled
persons will also be watching this matter very closely to determine the
magnitude of their liability. The state of Michigan has to show that their
conduct was not grossly negligent to prevail against Fred Aslin.
Meanwhile, Fred Aslin reflects on his 73 years in his home in Hobbs,
Indiana. With his wife and her two sons, Aslinšs world is like a supernova.
His luminosity has exploded onto the gracious members of his community,
as he is the center of their universe. His family has given him the strength,
once again, to appreciate the sacred grounds once reserved only for them
to whom wisdom of earth was granted. He has come the full circle in that
he is, once again, the caretaker of the splendid resources of nature.
(top of page)
|
