Examples Of Racial Bias In Invisible Man

“Did you know that African-American patients often receive less pain medicine than a white person for the same amount of pain?” I asked. “Yeah, I mean, that's weird, but not really surprising. They do tend to abuse their meds…,” the doctor replied indifferently. The racial bias shown in my exchange is not uncommon in modern medicine, as many recent studies report that there is a significant correlation between the quality of care that one receives and one’s race. The racial biases in medicine exist explicitly and explicitly, but both create notable flaws in the healthcare industry. Similarly, Ralph Ellison explores this theme of racial bias in medicine in his novel Invisible Man. Following a horrific accident, Ellison’s protagonist undergoes

While Ellison portrays explicit racial bias in Invisible Man, today’s problem revolves around implicit bias in healthcare. Aside from the studies, there are countless stories detailing the shamefully horrific conditions to which patients were put through. One truly depressing story is from a mother, Jane Lazarre, who recounts her “enlightening” experience of her son’s knee surgery. Her son, Khary, was half-white half-black eighteen year old who stood over six feet tall. After the surgery, Khary woke violently, his limbs “thrashing and flailing about”. The medical staff had to keep sending him under anesthesia, because he was simply too “large and powerful” that he could unintentionally harm the staff. Jane knew that he was only scared, but she wasn’t surprised by the medical staff’s jumping to conclusions, stating that both her sons were viewed as dangerous by white people. She commented that she knew that the staff was not racially judging her son on purpose, but it still obviously was unjust in her eyes. Even though they did not know Khary at all, the staff automatically deemed Khary as violent and angry. Through Kate and Khary’s story, it is clearly evident that implicit bias affects how medical professionals treat their patients. Unconsciously, medical professionals make unfair assumptions about one’s character based on one’s skin color, a behavior that is surprisingly learned by medical students during their time at medical