ipl-logo

Why Is The Tuskegee Experiment Important

671 Words3 Pages

The Tuskegee experiment in Alabama was not at all humane. The Tuskegee experiment took advantage of hundreds of poor African American men, and violated their rights as humans. The result of the Tuskegee experiment led to a lot of distrust of science and medicine among the African American population. The Tuskegee experiment took place in Macon County, Alabama where there was a great number poor sharecroppers ("The Deadly Deception"). The researchers were looking for somewhere that had poor, uneducated African American men, and Macon County was the perfect place. The Public Health Service wanted to conduct research that focused on how untreated syphilis affected the body, and they wanted to know if syphilis was the same in blacks as it was …show more content…

The subjects that survived the Tuskegee experiment did not find out what was really being done to them until forty years after the fact ("The Deadly Deception"). All of this deceit caused African Americans to not want to trust white doctors and it is hard not to agree with them. Deborah, Henrietta Lack’s daughter, was afraid that researchers were doing something harmful to her mother and that is why she died (Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks [pg.186]). Deborah heard about the Tuskegee experiment and how supposedly the doctors were injecting the subjects with syphilis, and so Deborah was really paranoid about doctors and what they were really doing (Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks [pg186]). This sort of treatment and disregard for African Americans rights as humans leave them no other choice but to not trust science and medicine. The Tuskegee experiment was not the only research study that tricked African Americans into getting procedures which then led to more distrust of science and medicine. African American women thought they were getting their appendix removed but without their consent or knowledge had hysterectomies preformed on them for no other reason than for young doctors to practice doing the procedure leaving these women no longer able to have children (Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Show More
Related

  • How Did The Tuskegee Airmen Overcome Racial Discrimination

    772 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Tuskegee Airmen was the first colored air squadron in U.S. military history. Since they were colored they weren’t highly honored as the white pilots; but they accomplished more than others. It wasn’t easy for them along the way. Therefore, The Tuskegee Airmen like Benjamin O. Davis Jr. faced racial discrimination and the toughest pilot program in the military.

    Read More

  • Book Report On The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

    1588 Words  | 7 Pages

    They believed it was best not to confuse or upset patients with frightening terms they might not understand, like cancer. Doctors knew best, and most patients didn’t question that… it was understood that black people didn’t question white people’s and their professional judgment. ”(Chapter 8, Page 62 by Rebecca Skloot). This is a very important section in the book because it says a lot of black people not being informed of what is happening to them. Henrietta’s doctor lied to her saying she was fine, because they did not want to “scare” her.

    Read More

  • How To Write An Excerpt From The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

    474 Words  | 2 Pages

    We are not seen as human enough to be consenting as well as told the truth about what they are doing to us. Black people have been subjected to many medical and social experiments throughout history. Some could even argue that the "projects" was just that, a project to see how we would could interact and live with one another. Not only this but I am currently reading a book entitled Blood sugar, which is about the pharmaceutical industry and the money it makes off of black citizens.

    Read More

  • What Is The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Unethical

    1354 Words  | 6 Pages

    Nature.com stated that the number of scientific output (or the number of scientific papers that researchers publish) double every nine years (Nature.com). This may not seem like a lot, but there are thousands upon thousands of researchers that are constantly producing new content. With the amount of research scientists are producing, it is necessary to remind scientists (and future scientists) that we cannot go back to the times when Henrietta was alive, nor should we repeat horrible studies such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, where 600 men were experimented on in exchange for burial insurance and food (CDC). The Tuskegee Study lasted for 40 years, and even after penicillin was discovered, the men were not given any treatment (CDC). Experiments just like this one could still happen today, but with books like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, people can see what happens to the people in the experiment.

    Read More

  • The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot

    826 Words  | 4 Pages

    Due to their little knowledge doctors and scientist had taken advantage of them. Africans Americans for them it seemed as if they were the new foreign exchange student in a classroom were everyone speaks a different language, (pg16) Skloot mentioned “For Henrietta, walking into Hopkins was like entering a foreign country where she didn’t speak the language. She knew about harvesting tobacco and butchering a pig, but she’d never heard the words such as cervix or biopsy……” Due to here education most African Americans only went to the hospital when it deemed necessary to them. They would go to the hospital with faith and trust that towards the doctors.

    Read More

  • How Did Booker T Washington Influence The Civil Rights Movement

    1152 Words  | 5 Pages

    The causes of the American Civil Rights movement follow a tortuous, diverging path; the work of a plethora of individuals and institutions culminating to accomplish a task unprecedented in American History. One such contribution may be traced well before the initial start of the Civil Rights Movement to the birth of one significant site within it – Tuskegee, Alabama. Tuskegee was founded as one of many farming communities within Alabama; whites found a home under its hot sun and upon its fertile ground. These luxuries were complimented handsomely by the de facto laws of the land – laws that allowed whites to own plantations whose prosperity lay on the backs of suffering African Americans. As Booker T. Washington’s influence rose within Tuskegee,

    Read More

  • Jane Elliot's Classroom Experiment And The Civil Rights Movement

    586 Words  | 3 Pages

    experiment.4 A TV show, books, interviews, and appearances on national and appearances on nationally famous shows were what Jane Elliot received from this experiment. Although it is successful, it is also criticized a lot due to its ethical issues. On one hand, this experiment opened up people’s eyes to the corrupt nature of racism and segregation and inflicted change on

    Read More

  • What Was The Impact Of The Port Royal Experiment

    1463 Words  | 6 Pages

    Thomas Jefferson, though writing long before the civil war, endorsed a gradual emancipation and colonization of the slaves, rather than outright freedom, concerned with their ability to peacefully coexist with white Americans. One of the more progressive ideas came in the form of giving the former slaves land, wages, and freedom equal to that of any other free man. This, however, was not a popular plan among many of the people of the time, believing that African Americans are inherently inferior to white Americans. If this assumption was true, then obviously we couldn’t integrate them into society, as they wouldn’t work or contribute to society in a meaningful way. The Port Royal Experiment sought to prove the validity of this claim, one way or

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Up From Slavery By Booker Taliaferro Washington

    980 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the late 19th century, many African-Americans participated in the post-Civil War reform movements which geared towards the eradication of racism, the improvement of education and employment opportunities. Booker Taliaferro Washington stood out, strong and influential in an era when race relations amongst Caucasians and African-American’s were in anguish. Washington was an influential pragmatist that utilized ambiguity in order to maintain white recognition of his leadership. Washington’s experiences at Hampton University, cemented his belief that African American’s had a more realistic approach in their economic and educational standing through vocational learning. Washington created Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in order to mirror the principles

    Read More

  • Tuskegee Studies

    1195 Words  | 5 Pages

    According to Carol A. Heintzelman (2003, Vol. 10, No. 4), the Tuskegee study of untreated syphilis in the African American male was the longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history. The study began in 1932 in Macon County, Alabama, where the government used 600 men in a forty-year experiment. The purpose of the Tuskegee study was to record the history of syphilis in blacks, but to ultimately determine if syphilis had the same effect on African Americans as whites. The African American men were told that they were receiving free “treatment” for “bad blood”, in which case they thought they were being treated for different ailments. But in actuality they were being injected with syphilis and watched to see how their

    Read More

  • Essay On Tuskegee Study

    546 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Tuskegee study of Untreated Syphilis began in 1932, mainly designed to determine the history of untreated latent syphilis on 600 African American men in Tuskegee, Alabama. 201 out of 600 men were non-syphilitic just unknowingly involved in the study as a control group This study is known to be “the most infamous biomedical research study in the U.S history”. Most of these men had never visited a doctor and they had no idea what illness they had. All of the men agreed to be a participant thinking they were being treated for “bad blood” and plus they were given free medical care and meals.

    Read More

  • African American Mental Health Sociology

    821 Words  | 4 Pages

    Their research focused on Black men in that area, and how their body will react to syphilis. However, at the time there was no cure or treatment for the sexually transmitted disease. This study lasted for over 40 years and is now known as the Tuskegee Experiments. The stigma may have stemmed from these times were African Americans from this era in time.

    Read More

  • Unethical Behavior In Miss Evers Boys

    1342 Words  | 6 Pages

    The study would ultimately prove that everyone, no matter the color of their skin, is equal when it comes to the disease of syphilis. The intention behind manipulating the men was not for the greater good of society, but instead was for the greater good of Dr. Brodus and Miss Evers. Although the actions of Dr. Brodus and Miss Evers prove to be unethical, I also find the actions to be unprofessional. Miss Evers should have informed the men of the severity of the disease, as well as how the disease is passed from one individual to another. They failed to inform their patients of many of the risks that came along with the disease.

    Read More

  • Ethical Principles In The Film 'Miss Evers Boys'

    1121 Words  | 5 Pages

    This study was referred to as the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis

    Read More

  • Informative Essay On Tuskegee Airmen

    411 Words  | 2 Pages

    I’m going to be writing about a real story about the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen’s happened in the late 1930s. African Americans were known as the “Tuskegee Airmen“. The Tuskegee group are from the World War II. This African American group began in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1941.

    Read More

More about Why Is The Tuskegee Experiment Important

Open Document