Progressivism is coming full circle with the arrival of racial segregation in the student dormitories at the University of Iowa.

At the dawn of progressivism, eugenics was meant to improve the human race by discouraging “inferior” races from reproducing, as Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger intended. The founding generation of progs had no difficulty identifying who those inferiors were, either: blacks, Asians, and basically anybody that wasn’t like the people in charge in the United States a century and more ago. Progressive President Woodrow Wilson introduced segregation to the armed services.

All of this was held up as an effort to improve society. And now, the same motivations are at work in progressive citadels like the University of Iowa. Jeff Charis-Carlson of the Iowa City Press-Citizen reports:

In an effort to improve its recruitment and retention of minority students, the University of Iowa is planning to offer a new living-learning community this fall that is open only to students who identify as black or African-American.

There is a patronizing odor about this:

“Young, Gifted and Black” is one of 35 living-learning communities available to first-year UI students for the 2016-17 academic year. Joining one of those communities, which are designed to help provide new students with a support system within the 32,000-student university, is a requirement for all first-year students at UI. (snip)

Plans are to have the new UI community fill a floor of Slater Hall, which is located on the west side of campus and near UI’s Afro-American Cultural Center. That location would leave enough room for about 40 students to join the mixed-gender community.

With participation limited to students who identity as black or African-American, Young, Gifted and Black would be the first identity-based community on the UI campus.

Yes, “identity-based community” sounds much better than “racially segregated dormitory.” And of course, as bigots always say, "it's for their own good."

Hat tip: David Paulin