Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present Part 1

In part one of our Medical Apartheid episode, we will be discussing Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington. Here’s a brief summary of the book courtesy of the author/publisher: "The first full history of Black America’s shocking mistreatment as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment. No one concerned with issues of public health and racial justice can afford not to read this masterful book that will stir up both controversy and long-needed debate. From the era of slavery to the present day, starting with the earliest encounters between Black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, Medical Apartheid details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge—a tradition that continues today within some black populations. 

It reveals how Blacks have historically been prey to grave-robbing as well as unauthorized autopsies and dissections. Moving into the twentieth century, it shows how the pseudoscience of eugenics and social Darwinism was used to justify experimental exploitation and shoddy medical treatment of Blacks. Shocking new details about the government’s notorious Tuskegee experiment are revealed, as are similar, less-well-known medical atrocities conducted by the government, the armed forces, prisons, and private institutions. 

The product of years of prodigious research into medical journals and experimental reports long undisturbed, Medical Apartheid reveals the hidden underbelly of scientific research and makes possible, for the first time, an understanding of the roots of the African American health deficit. At last, it provides the fullest possible context for comprehending the behavioral fallout that has caused Black Americans to view researchers—and indeed the whole medical establishment—with such deep distrust."

This week's "Musings of Tired Black Social Worker" segment topic is fighting insecurity to connect with others.

To purchase the book, visit: Medical Apartheid via Amazon or Medical Apartheid via Penguin Random House

To check out the CR podcast content calendar, visit: https://soulsessionswithneph.com/critical-reads-podcast

To find out more about me or to consume more of my content, visit soulsessionswithneph.com. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook using the handle @soulsessionswithneph, or email me at connect@soulsessionswithneph.com. Thank you again for your time and support!