Race, Medicine, & Society - Final Blog Post

Race, Medicine, & Society Collin Winters

Final Blog Post May 11, 2018

Looking back at what was said on my notecard at the beginning of the semester; I would say that my predictions were correct. We studied many ‘behind-the-scenes’ forms of racism such as the story of Henrietta Lacks, the Tuskegee studies, and stories of African American pain from Sickle Cell Anemia. These stories affected mass amounts of people and seemed significant enough to be considered worthy as major events in the history of American healthcare. I had never heard of HeLa cells, syphilis experiments on blacks, or really looked into what exactly Sickle Cell Anemia is. This course was successful in bringing to light racism that is buried in the past and addressing how it still may be relevant today. This was especially true, when we read Black Man in a White Coat, giving us a peek inside the head of a black physician and the challenges he faced in his profession.

In the beginning, I believed that this class would be closely related to a previous class I had taken: Doctors as Writers with Professor Kyler. I thought we would be exploring mainly the perspectives of black physicians. However, my favorite parts of the course were actually the historical ones that seemed to connect with a previous Kieran class I had taken, History 206.

This class has changed my views in a way that helps me realize that the past isn’t as simple as I thought. Beforehand, I never knew that some of the most important cells in human history were those of a black woman. Surely we should be more thankful. I also hadn’t known of the speech Clinton gave when he addressed the nation and formally apologized for the actions of the Tuskegee studies. What might’ve been one of the biggest shocks was exploring a different side of the Black Panther Party. Originally thought to just be a violent black military group that was around during the Civil Rights movement; they were actually a group that eventually became stable, and found ways to help the black community such as focusing on healthcare.

One of my favorite parts of the course turned out to be our discussions about theory. Ideas about Biopower, Biopolitics, and Precarity helped me see the past and present through a new lense. The ways we use and treat our body can carry heavy cultural and political significance. Precarity was also interesting to learn about as well. Life itself contains a randomness, but also there are variables, in the ways you could die or fall ill.

If I had any questions about the course; they would be about groups that weren’t as heavily discussed. Why has diabetes been a problem for groups such as Mexicans and Native Americans? We studied Asian populations and health back when we talked about Chinatown and Los Angeles, but what about more recent examples of Asian health? Have there been any medical disparities for their group in the field of medicine or as being a patient?

In all honestly, at the very beginning of the course I didn’t know how much I would enjoy it. The course seemed to be even more discussion based than History 206, and it wasn’t as much about concrete facts such as Contemporary history. This class dealt with ideas and ways of thinking about society. However, now at the end of the road, I’ve found that I did enjoy the class, and I’ve learned a lot of things that perhaps weren’t focused on in 206. Now I am aware of ‘behind-the-scenes’ realities from the past that are present in today’s society.

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