Eugenics. A tiny little word with an amazingly complex meaning, eugenics was once held as the science of "better breeding," and the mechanism for birthing a better, more fit society. Utilizing theories of evolution, polygenesis, phrenology, and genetic inheritance, eugenic beliefs filtered into every aspect of Western culture. Today, remnants of eugenics inform and dictate policies in education, housing, health, punishment, finance, amusements, immigration, and race. The Acumen Group deconstructs these theories to raise awareness of eugenics -- past and present and help others address both personal and institutional bias based on eugenic ideologies.
ACUMEN'S 2nd ANNUAL "EUGENICS IN SOCIETY" CONFERENCE 2026
​The (Re)Birth of Cruel: Framing Black Masculinity Against Hereditarian (Eugenic) Theories
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To define and protect the U.S. phenotype: whiteness – the genes, culture, and national standards – against what Lothrop Stoddard called the “rising tide of color,” American leaders promoted early eugenic theories into a movement by mid-1800s. Many, including President Theodore Roosevelt, with his strenuous life ideology, fastened eugenic fitness to American civility, patriotism, wellness, intellect, beauty, and power. The (Re) Birth of Cruel examines the historical impact and current manifestation of popular theories of inherent pathology applied specifically to Black men using the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case, health insurance statistician Frederick Hoffman’s 330-page race valuation, “The Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro” (1896), and the U.S. Army College’s 1925 study of African American men’s racial fitness for military service, “The Use of Negro Manpower in War.” This series of talks analyzes the collective identity formation of white American masculinity against the systematic disenfranchisement of black manhood within Jim Crow culture.
ACADEMIC STEWARDSHIP 2026
The Lee Andrew & Hattie Ross Academic Scholarship @ The University of Westminster
The Acumen Group is honored to establish the Lee Andrew & Hattie Ross Academic Scholarship at the University of Westminster (Black History Year) to aid the matriculation of first-generation, Black college students who demonstrate financial need. The scholarship is named for the grandparents of Dr. Shantella Sherman, who were denied access to formal education under U.S. Jim Crow legislation.
ACUMEN AWARDS 2023
The Acumen Group honored the writers, directors, producers, and actors of the British soap opera Coronation Street in October 2023 for their research-worthy performances. Using the strength of their talents, our examination of potentially eugenic themes on the show yielded both a bounty of data and a book award for Popular Eugenics in Television & Film. Here are the presentations of our awards at ITV Studios in Manchester (UK), to Alison King (for her portrayal of Carla Barlow), Chris Gascoyne (for his portrayal of Peter Barlow), and William Roache, (for his portrayal of Ken Barlow). An additional Acumen award was accepted by actor Simon Gregson, who portrays Steve McDonald, (on behalf of the writers, directors, and producers). King and Gascoyne provided Acumen with valuable insight into their characters -- who wrestled with the residue of childhood traumas and adult addictions while forging a formidable (sometimes volatile) romantic relationship with each other. Affectionately known as #Carter, Carla and Peter Barlow afforded researchers amazing test subjects of eugenically unfit (but purely lovable) characters who beat the odds and cultivated an almost surreal, passionate, and productive union.
Photos and video footage -- even our bloopers -- by Alison Sinclair for ITV Coronation Street on behalf of The Acumen Group. / All rights reserved. Copyright 2023
#EugenicallySpeaking
A Celebration of Acumen Endeavors 2023
Meet the Acumen Team
Acumen Courses & Lectures
In Search of Purity:
Popular Eugenics & Racial Uplift Among New Negroes 1915-1935
Winner of the 2019-2020 Best Academic History Book Award from the International Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
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Available for purchase in our online bookstore or at book retailers worldwide
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"If you do not understand eugenics in the framing of race policies, what you believe you know of racism, Otherness, and national character, will only confuse you."
-- Dr. Shantella Sherman
Winner of 2019-2020 Best Academic Book - International Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society