Linda Villarosa Under The Skin Sparknotes

Erika Pongos
Professor Klutchin
Hist 18
04/28/23
Reading Questions #4:

In Under the Skin, Linda Villarosa examines health disparities in the United States from historical perspective and in the present. She argues that racism, not race, is the cause of a health crisis in the Black community today. In Chapter 1, she explains how she came to this conclusion. Briefly summarize her journey, providing at least three specific examples to support your claims.
In the book Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa, Villarosa gives a lot of information on how she views the historical perspective of health disparities in the United States and throughout the present day. She argued that racism, not race, is the main cause of a health crisis in the Black community

When it came to her personal experience, Villarosa explains the racism in the healthcare system that led her to investigate the connection between race and health. For example, Villarosa talked about an incident that occurred when she was pregnant. When she was pregnant, Villarosa had to advocate for herself in order to receive the appropriate care. After experiencing such distraught, this led her to question why minorities, especially Black people, receive lower quality healthcare than White people (p. 16-17). Another way she explained the health crisis in the Black community today was through historical research. In Chapter 2, Villarosa researched the history of healthcare in the United States and found a study about Tuskegee Syphilis Study. During this time of study, Black men were left untreated for syphilis without the consent of the participants in order to study the disease. Villarosa argued that this study specifically created a mistrust of the healthcare system among the Black community. Unfortunately, this medical racism continues to exist today. Lastly, Villarosa also expanded on contemporary research about the impact of racism on health outcomes

Villarosa argued that the eugenics movement played a significant role in shaping family planning policies and practices in the United States. In the book, she noted that the eugenicists believed that certain groups of people like African Americans and other people who suffer through poverty, were biologically inferior and should be discouraged from reproducing. These ideas were embraced by policymakers, public health officials, and family planning workers. They often saw their work as a way to control the reproduction of marginalized communities. The author also stated that the eugenics movement was intertwined with racism and classism. Many of the eugenicists believed that certain racial and socioeconomic groups were more prone to degeneracy with criminal-like behaviors. Villarosa argued that these were the same attitudes that shaped family planning workers’ decision to target Minnie Lee and Mary Alice Relf for permanent contraception. The Relf sisters came from poor family and were living in public housing, which made them vulnerable to coercive sterilization. Villarosa allows history to help us understand the reproductive violence that the Relf sisters and other females suffered. She explains that forced sterilization was a common practice in the United States during the