Introduction
In this paper I intend to look at racism and the ethical issues that came into motion for the African American population. I will look at why African Americans are less likely to be medically treated, how the their rights as clients were often not looked at when deciding how to treat or use the information gathered from the African American population, and what the long term effects were from the Henreietta Lachs case.
Ethical Issues
Not in the too distant past, African American patients often had less than equal care to their white counter parts. Segregation was an often-used way to keep the races apart and was used in all parts of the world that we see. For African American people, they were often afraid
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(Rollock & Gordon, 2000)) In the case of the family of Henrietta Lachs, they held a belief that white people were racist towards African Americans and often the medical community went out to kidnap them to use as test subjects. This shows a Linked Lives problem where the concept of linked lives suggests that research should also examine how experiences of discrimination encountered by one person may indirectly affect another.(Gee, Walsemann & Brondolo, 2012) In other words, stories and experiences that one person encounters and then tells about or passes down through their family or friends, can often cause others to feel that issue or racist experience even though they didn’t have it happen to them first hand. In the Henrietta Lachs family this is shown by one of her sons refusing to go for medical attention even though he knows there are issues that he is having. He remembers what happened to his mother when she became sick with cancer and remembers that her cells were taken. Together with the stories of kidnapped African American people he is very distrusting of the medical system and does not want to have anything bad happen to him. Add to the fact that African American patients were known to have sub par health care in the days of Henrietta and that segregation was still something that happened, he might not have ever felt comfortable seeking medical attention. Also, due to lack of jobs in some areas as well as less education leading to less job opportunities, many African Americans are not able to access health care. Many clinics in low income
There are many open wounds in the African-American community that have not healed what so ever. Disintegration of family structures in the African-American community has been a persistent problem for far too long. High out of wedlock birth rates, absent fathers, and the lack of a family support network for many young African-Americans have led to serious problems in America's urban areas. The persistence of serious social problems in inner-city areas has led to a tragic perpetuation of racial prejudice as well. African Americans still face a litany of problems in the 21st century today.
During the 1950’s African American’s had a difficult time living in a world where they were seen to be lesser of a human being than what they were. They were treated differently in normal everyday lives as well as in the medical world. Henrietta Lacks was a woman who was greatly affected by this divide between whites and African-Americans. Because of the color of her skin, I believe she was not treated to the best of the doctor’s ability, and instead just used for indirect experimentation. In Rebecca Skloot’s novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, she gives examples of how African-Americans were treated differently, a few of those include; the conditions of John Hopkins, the African-American medical experiments, and Hector Henry.
With this being said you can tell African Americans was scared to even be
In Chapter 1 and 2 of “Creating Black Americans,” author Nell Irvin Painter addresses an imperative issue in which African history and the lives of Africans are often dismissed (2) and continue to be perceived in a negative light (1). This book gives the author the chance to revive the history of Africa, being this a sacred place to provide readers with a “history of their own.” (Painter 4) The issue that Africans were depicted in a negative light impacted various artworks and educational settings in the 19th and early 20th century. For instance, in educational settings, many students were exposed to the Eurocentric Western learning which its depiction of Africa were not only biased, but racist as well.
Henrietta Lack was an African American woman born in 1920 who helped science define some of the world’s medical discoveries. Many woman were dying every year from cervical cancer. Little did she know what the future held for her and millions of other people. This situation saddens me as a medical professional because a human was treated as a specimen rather than a person. Even though this was many decades ago, I feel as though there still should have been standard practices in place that prevented this kind of behavior from those who are supposed to be trusted most, health care professionals.
The Medical Mistreatment of African Americans throughout History Throughout history, African Americans have been exploited not only through hard labor, but in research facilities and hospitals. African Americans have been tested on, abused, and researched without their consent, knowledge, nor full-understanding. Many times they were given false information to rationalize what was happening to them. African Americans were also not administered anesthetics while undergoing surgeries and other painful procedures.
The struggle of the African American people was shown through the stories they told and wrote. An example is a story written by Langston Hughes titled, I, Too “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ Then.” (Hughes 8-14). Langston Hughes through this story communicates that he will start being seen as an equal
Statistically, African American women in the United States suffer from complications or death 243 percent more than white women during maternity. This is a common occurrence that many women and children face, but shouldn’t have too. Rebecca Skloots book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, is an example of the inequality shown to African-American women in the medical world. Specifically, the unequal medical care Henrietta Lacks received, which many other black women experienced. In her book, Skloot suggests that African-American women suffer from psychological effects after receiving unequal medical care, do not receive equal medical treatment during maternity, and are more likely to die from maternal complications.
Multiple times throughout the book it was mentioned that Henrietta’s biopsy took place 60 years ago and a lot of changes have been made to science and ethics. This book did a good job bringing up ethics in science and scientific achievements that have been made over the years, but in some ways it was sensationalized to get the family the recognition they feel they deserved. As a poor, black family, the Lacks’ were discriminated against. Even the medical treatments they received were often not the best treatments offered and they were often experimented on. Having the fear of being mistreated and used for experimentation made the Lacks’ even more upset about Henrietta’s death.
Respect and equality are two aspects anyone would least expect to not have in an industry that saves lives. From the earliest of time in the medical care, there have been cases in the nursing profession the indicate racial discrimination and sexism by the result of others unnatural behaviors, following claims and the show unnoticed. In the issue of these cases, the Civil Right Act of 1964 begins to show unrecognized. For coming up nursing, they must think is this the right fit for them. The wrongful racial discrimination and sexism have been established in a nursing career recently through the influence of false behaviors of respect and equal rights in the industry.
Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.
Racism in the Medical Field Racism has existed in the medical field for over 2,500 years. Where people of certain races, religions, and genders are all discriminated against by the people in this world who are supposed to help them. Doctors take an oath to treat all patients with equity, yet still some patients are prone to bigoted racism. However it goes the other way as well, even doctors experience racial prejudice by patients and their families.
Most African Americans during this time were poor and being poor wasn’t just a physical ordeal, it was an emotional, mental one as well. So by speaking
African American Studies was a great experience. Has opened my eyes to my surrounding and the world around me. This course with Dr. Sheba Lo, was something out of me confront zone. I learned so many things from race to cultural to the importance aspect of African American. We are isolated to an environment that hide so much history that we all don’t think they are important to who we have become.
11. According to king, what hardships do African Americans face? Give two examples from the speech. One of the hardships that African Americans face is segregation and discrimination.