Final Blog Post

Back in February, I was curious if the bias that health care providers had, and still have, for minority groups are reflective of the past. I was particularly interested in the history of race and medicine, and if racial bias in health care was more explicit in the past—like in the Civil War. Many of the books that we read throughout the course addressed these issues. Specifically, Sick from Freedom addressed my questions regarding the racial bias in health care during the Civil War and Reconstruction. For example, false assumptions about African-American inferiority lead doctors to become “[c]onvinced of the differences between the races” which resulted in “some Union doctors [refusing] to touch sick black people” (Downs 35). Many of these perceptions, as we know, have ensued throughout history and led to great disparities in health care for minorities—like African-Americans. Perhaps, had we more time, we could have further explored the experimentation on black bodies and how the perception of African-American pain lead to health disparities in contemporary culture. As I had posted in an earlier blog post, James Marion Sims, a doctor and “father of gynecology,” conducted agonizing surgeries on enslaved women between 1845 and 1849. It is reported that Sims preformed 30 surgeries alone on a 17-year-old slave. During the surgeries, Sims refused to provide anesthesia—although available—to the enslaved patients he operated on. The false notion that African-Americans had a high tolerance to pain resulted in excruciating operations for Sim’s enslaved subjects. The analysis of these experimentations would provide an interesting connection to the modern perception of African-American pain and suffering in health care—something that we did begin to explore near the end of class.

One of the most important things that I learned, as a result of this course, was to look at everything more closely. Before this class I had not realized the extent to which racial disparities were present, and are still present, in the American health care system. As the class progressed, and has now ended, I have continually read articles and studies delineating racial bias in society and healthcare—as well as everywhere in between. I have also been more aware of the racism in the contemporary United States that greatly contribute to these disparities in health. This class was not only exceptionally intriguing, and terrifying, but was impactful in widening my perception of the world and the pitiable treatment of minority groups. This class has instilled me with the desire to do whatever I can, in any way that I can, to alleviate these disparities.

All of the readings, speakers, and activities were extremely important in shaping and evolving my thinking. The books that we read explored many aspects, throughout time, of racial disparities in the healthcare system. Some of my favorite readings were: Sick from Freedom, Examining Tuskegee, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Black Man in a White Coat, and Dying in the City of the Blues—to name a few. The speakers—like Stewart Fisk, Mario Browne, Alondra Nelson, and Keith Wailoo—greatly contributed to the development of my thinking. It was amazing, and quite surreal, to meet both the actual people who wrote the books we read and those who have made impacts on the issues that we discussed.

One of the major conclusions of the course that I have reached is that racial bias is, and has always been, a major problem in the United States. Both racial bias and racism have generated disparities in healthcare—leading to substandard care for minority groups. Racial bias has persisted in America for way too long and is long overdue for a change. My final question—how can we fix it; how can I fix it?

Works Cited

Downs, Jim. Sick from Freedom: African-American Illnesses and Suffering During the Civil War and Reconstruction. Oxford University Press, 2015.