Race, Medicine, & Society Notes - February 15, 2018

Race, Medicine, & Society Notes - February 15, 2018

Discussion Questions:

1. In what ways does Downs challenge conventional narratives about the Civil War, Emancipation, etc? Why is this important?
2. Why, exactly. Did the Civil War produce a major public health crisis?
3. What were the major factors that shaped freed people’s health?

- Americans had to deal with mass deaths

- Americas had to confront death (650,000 military deaths) (50,000 civilian deaths)

- With the use of photography, Americans were being exposed to images of
death from the war

Frames of War by Judith Butler

“Precariousness and precarity are intersecting concepts.
Lives are by definition precarious; they can be expunged at will or by accident;
their persistence is in no sense guaranteed. In some sense, this is a feature of all life,
and there is no thinking of life that is not precarious - except, of course, in fantasy, and
in military fantasies in particular. Political orders, including economic and social
instructions, are designed to address those very needs without which the risk of mortality
is heightened. Precarity designates that politically induced condition in which certain
populations suffer from failing social and economic networks of support and become
deferentially exposed to injury, violence, and death.” (Butler 25)

- Life is precarious

- Failing social and economic networks of support expose the populous to injury,
violence, and death. In other words, when the government is preoccupied (war) or
slacking (holding a potential bias towards a cause or population) they are not actively
supporting citizens.

- Lives can be taken on purpose or by accident (precarious = unstable)

Are all lives equally precarious? (how likely are you to die?)

- People tend to think of themselves as invulnerable to precarity. Otherwise, people wouldn’t sign up for wars.

- This same way of thinking is found in the medical profession.
For my intersession class (Doctors as Writers), I wrote my final paper on the perspective
of doctors that had become patients. Many doctors hold the idea that because they treat
a certain illness; they themselves are immune to it. When doctors contract a sickness or
are found to have cancer; they are very shocked, and quickly turn into patients themselves.

- “Despite this plan, however, Butler did not employ all the poor people who were
within the Union lines. He gave preference to “white men,” leaving hundreds of
starving former slaves on the outskirts of New Orleans.” (Downs 57)

- Ex-slave’s lives were more precarious than white lives. White lives were
prioritized when receiving resources and opportunities to join the military.

- Once slaves were free, they were met with diseases and large distances to travel

-Emancipation kind’ve left the slaves on a doorstep

- No support after Emancipation Proclamation for non-whites, not considered citizens still

- Non-whites wanting medical care was one of the first forms of fighting for rights after slavery

- Emancipation in United States compared to Caribbean nations

- This point was brought up in the book (I forget the page number), but the rate that
freedom was given may play an important role in how events played out. American
slaves were freed in one, sudden decree. In contrast, in the Caribbean, the freedom
process was more gradual. This could have possibly allowed for newly freed individuals
to receive government support. However, due to the rapid freedom process in the
United States, and the ongoing Civil War, the government didn’t have the time or resources
to support the newly freed slaves. Perhaps emancipation should’ve been more thought out
and planned. Also, the sudden Emancipation may have been brought about because of the
Union’s sudden desperation to turn the war to an issue of slavery. This was done to drive off
the pro-freedom British from further aiding the Confederacy. This also improved the image of
the Union’s cause; instead of it being simply to forcibly reclaim it’s rebelling land. The Cause
and Effect of emancipation should've been considered; instead of hastily throwing a
population into poverty with no support. Ex-slaves couldn't just 'make a living on their own
because they were in a position that required aid.

Freed slaves needed support such as:

• Clothing
• Food
• Clean Water
• Methods of Transportation
• Work/Form of Income
• Citizenship (Rights)
• Access to Healthcare
• Sanitation
• Shelter

Spread of sickness:

- Exposure to corpses and feces

- Drinking water not clean

- Sickness spread from people that were susceptible to sickness
(those who had wounds or were in close quarters with a sick person)

- Use of unsanitary medical equipment

Medical Knowledge

• No knowledge of microbiology
• Dangerous medical practices

Military Doctors:

• Some didn’t want to work with non-white bodies such as the physician from Arkansas (employed by the federal government) that refused to put his ear on the chest of a black patient if he had pneumonia. (Downs 35)
• Not always profession (lack of training) (also mentioned on Page 35)

- Civil War was not initially set out to get rid of slavery

- Lincoln was neither pro-slavery or abolitionist

- John Eaton - “Some among us, and some in England, have considered this
emancipation a farce, because it was proclaimed by President Lincoln as a military
necessity, and not on the ground of humanity and justice.” (Downs 38)

1860s - Newly freed slaves did not have citizenship

- Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in only the rebelling territories

How much of suffering of freed African Americans was preventable?

• Racist ideals of biology (doctors refusing to help black patients)
• Context in history, during Civil War, nation busy with war

Involuntary service in Union camps

Plantation Owners - economic interests in keeping slaves healthy

Union camps didn’t care about health or the wellbeing of the individuals

Union Army cared about non-whites as long as they were military

• Food couldn’t be free, had to be bought with military service
• Union and Confederacy couldn’t afford to help non-soldiers

Belief that ex-slaves would rely on government if given help (argument against freedom for slaves)

• This view would consist (ex: Reagan-era ideas on Medicaid, that the poor would abuse the program and live off of food stamps)
• “...many federal officials feared that providing ample support would encourage freedpeople to become dependent on the government for food, shelter, and clothing; as a result, many federal administrators limited the amount of support that hospitals received.” (Downs 9)
• “Underlying this fear was the long-held belief that black people required white supervision to work or they would be indolent and unproductive.” (Downs 56)

- The Union and the Confederacy ignored the health of ex-slaves and focused on
economic and political gain (Just like when plantation owners were providing healthcare
to slaves. There is the initial period of investment, and then a hopeful payoff. In this case,
the payoff would be the use of black soldiers)

Downs (Sick from Freedom) challenged the common view of the Civil War
(everything didn't go as smoothly)

• Lens of health
• Perspective of newly freed slaves and the lack of support from the government

General Note for making blog posts:

-Make references to readings in blog posts

Quote of the Day: “At least there were maggots” - Jamie

Works Cited:

Butler, Judith. “Introduction/Precarious Life, Grievable Life.” Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable? Verso, 2009, pp. 25–25.
Downs, Jim. Sick from Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Oxford University Press, 2015.