Dying In The City Of The Blues Part 3

There is a shift in the view of sickle cell disease in the 1960s allowed African-Americans to gain some more leverage in their movement because of the newfound political and cultural significance that the disease took on. The change in the image of sickle cell created a platform for an empowering movement because it came to represent a national symbol, thus helping to support the Black Rights Movement because of the seriousness of its nature. That is not to say that the disease was any less serious; it has always been serious, but now it is being seen by the public and recognized. Beyond that, it showed the seriousness of the nature of equality and gaining the same rights (Voting Rights Act of 1965) and is endorsed by liberal Americans. African Americans had been long subjected to a culture that did not understand them, such as the Ghanaian researcher who stresses, "the gap between Western medical understanding and traditional African knowledge of the disorder" (Wailoo 167). These political titans, such as Nixon, may have jumped on the train to get a vote (not necessarily for the right reasons) but in the end, he helped push this political agenda to benefit a major community. By talk of sickle cell disease creating a minor power struggle within the Democratic and Republican party, it sparked major debate and diminished its invisibility even more (Wailoo 168). These public icons, such as African-American, famous personalities, helped because they are widely known and could reach mass audiences to advocate, although it at times had biased implications about the disease by only holding certain people as visible (169). There were still obstacles such as these and the hindrance because of the "unseen face of the drug abuse problem" because it is evident that people would only turn to such measures because they are in dire need of a coping strategy to numb their extreme pain. Yet, it still helped pushed legislation to be created to benefit those afflicted.