African Americans have suffered within the medical field for centuries. Throughout history, the medical field has failed black people, as well as other communities of color, leaving them unable to trust healthcare providers. From the infamous Dr. James Marian Sims to the Tuskegee Experiments, black people and children have faced and continue to face medical racism and discrimination.
Slavery was able to exist for so long because people held racist beliefs that dehumanized black people. Racist stereotypes were made to justify and excuse the mistreatment and discrimination of black people, making it more acceptable and even normalized. According to the online journal “Race, medicine, and health care in the United States: a historical survey.” by Byrd and Clayton, two types of racism were prevalent during slavery, paternalistic racism, and competitive racism. Paternalistic racism was seen during slavery, where black people were viewed as childish, irresponsible, loving, and loyal. This type of racism made white people view black people as child-like, or even pets. After slavery was abolished, black people became a threat and were considered conniving, untrustworthy, and aggressive, leading to competitive racism. This form of racism allowed white people to be aggressive with black people, claiming that they were violent by nature, which led to harsher treatment.
These racist stereotypes became established in the medical field, giving rise to medical racism. An infamous case includes Dr. James Marian Sims, a 19th century Alabama surgeon that was well known for his contributions to treating Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF), which is when the bladder has an opening to the vagina. This opening will leak urine through the vagina and eventually causes urinary tract infections (UTIs) and other painful complications to the vagina. While his treatment of this medical condition has helped to progress medical treatment, his methods in doing so make him extremely infamous.
This racism carried on into the 20th century, where black people continued to experience medical racism. As the medical field continued to advance, they experienced systemic discrimination in hospitals. They were often refused service by medical professionals or given exceptionally poor treatment. An example of this would be the Tuskegee experiment, which began in 1932 and didn’t end until 1972. Black men from Alabama were used for this experiment that was framed as a project to cure syphilis, a sexually transmitted bacterial infection. Around 600 men enrolled in this experiment, and around half of them did not have syphilis, while the other half did. The men were lied to, being told that they would be treated for their infections, when in reality they were used as guinea pigs. According to the online article “Tuskegee Experiment: The Infamous Syphilis Study” by Elizabeth Nix, “In order to track the disease’s full progression, researchers provided no effective care as the men died, went blind or insane or experienced other severe health problems due to their untreated syphilis.” The doctors and health workers that were part of the project used the men as test subjects to study the disease, completely ignoring the men suffering and dying from said disease.
Fortunately, there has been some reconciliation and progress within the medical community. With everything being more easily publicized, there are more public discussions that make medical discrimination harder to gloss over. Additionally, with more diversity in the medical profession, there are more black people and other minority groups that can contribute to medical practices and advocate for their communities. Unfortunately, decades long racism and discrimination does not disappear overnight. According to the book “Black and Blue” by John Hoberman, “Black physicians have been a beleaguered and often disdained minority within the medical profession, and this marginal status has limited their ability to challenge the white medical establishment” (Hoberman, p. 28). Black people continue to face discrimination, both in and out of the medical field. Nevertheless, they also continue to fight for their voices to be heard.
