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

The central themes of Killing the Black Body are that the regulation of Black women’s bodies is a central component of American racism; that the control of Black women’s reproductive rights has shaped the understanding of reproductive liberty in the US; and that it’s important for Americans to understand the relationship between reproductive rights and racist oppression. Roberts takes issue with the contemporary notion of reproductive liberty. She thinks “[i]t is limited by the liberal ideals of individual autonomy and freedom from government interference” and is “primarily concerned with the interests of white, middle-class women” and the “right to abortion” (11). Roberts instead seeks a more expansive and less individualist understanding of reproductive liberty. While she doesn’t want to take away from rights to bodily autonomy and the personal aspect of reproduction, she wants to show how reproductive policies can affect racial and ethnic groups. Additionally, we must accept that “we make reproductive decisions within a social context, including inequalities of wealth and power” (12).

Roberts outlines the topic of each chapter. Chapter 1 describes the exploitation of enslaved Black women’s reproduction. Chapter 2 examines the “alliances between birth control advocates and eugenicists during the 1920s and 1930s” (12) as well as the promotion of sterilization for Black women in subsequent decades.