Dying in the city of the blues part 1

Wailoo discuses many diverse topics in Dying in the city of the Blues. It is interesting that he talks about different ideologies relating to politics, medicine, public health, and disease. It is almost like the Sickle-Cell disease is a stopping point in history, for people to include themselves in building equality. It is a symbol of how African-American suffering, starts to shape and humanize them later down the road. It is interesting how Wailoo follows how the disease relates to the many other public health issues. I found it very disheartening that due to the fact that Sickle-Cell disease is an invisible painful disease, African-Americans were not believed to be in pain at all, and just looked at as dramatic and they were not treated as humans more as addicts. The legitimacy of their suffering is something that was real and that they needed to be treated for. The discourse that is prevalent throughout the first part of the book is that the African-American patient's pain is being faked just due to the fact that they want drugs since they're addicts.