Examining Tuskegee, Part I

Part I of Examining Tuskegee by Susan M. Reverby explores the deceitful and cruel nature of the experiments that were performed on African-American’s in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. One of the most appalling aspects of the section was the horrible treatment and deception that African-American’s experienced while unsuspectingly participating in the experiment. It was unclear as to whether the participants were conscious of the treatment they were receiving or let alone what exactly they were being treated for (Reverby 97). The treatments clearly had lager racial underpinnings. As Reverby explains in regard to the study, “Infection was the focus; racial differences were the underlying assumption; obtaining knowledge about the disease was the central concern” (28). While gaining information about syphilis was important there resided racial suppositions that contributed to the selection of nonconsenting subjects. Ironically, only “[w]hen needed, race would be ignored in order to generalize about the need for treatment. But in the end, the assumed biological difference based on race and the need to fully understand the disease proved even more intriguing” (Reverby 37). Jean Heller, the reporter who helped uncover the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, argues that “[the experimenters] should have been able to determine after the first three or four autopsies that the inside of a black person ravaged by syphilis looks identical to the inside of a white person” (Newsly). So why did the study continue for as long as it did? Evidently, it was perceived that one skin color was more expendable than another. It seems that “[r]ace mattered in terms of difference, and then it did not matter in terms of using the results” (31). Unfortunately, these malicious events will forever be embedded in America’s history.

Below is an interesting video that outlines some of the procedures in the experiment as well as some of the comments from the reporter, Jean Heller, who assisted in ending the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Heller also remarks on “what we may never know about the study’s origin or its effects” (Newsy).

https://youtu.be/J3tQ93fQf8U

Works Cited

Newsy.“The Unknowns About the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” YouTube, 25 Aug. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3tQ93fQf8U.

Reverby, Susan M. Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2013.