Each month there will be a recommendation of a film, book, or podcast to increase our intellectual health. This month I am recommending the book: Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to Present by Harriet A. Washington.
This book comes HIGHLY recommended by the incomparable, nurse extraordinaire Dr. Mallory Perry, PhD. She writes "I’m only about a quarter in and spoiler alert: we were lied to. Remember the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments, Henrietta Lacks? Yeah, well that was just the tip of the ugly iceberg that is American Medicine". This recommendation mainly targets healthcare providers, but is a must read for everyone. Why? Because in order to do better we must know better. From notorious cases such as the 'Tuskegee Syphilis Study' to recent cases of radiation exposure, blood transfusions, and drug testing, "Medical Apartheid" leads the necessary discussion of race and medicine.
"In an engaging narrative, Harriet A. Washington argues that diverse forms of racial discrimination have shaped both the relationship between white physicians and black patients and the attitude of the latter towards modern medicine in general. The book is divided into three parts: the first engages with the cultural memory of medical experimentation; the second examines recent cases of medical abuse and research; while the last addresses the complex relationship between racism and medicine" (Turda, 2007)
To order a paperback copy click here to find a list of black-owned bookstores to support.
If e-books/Kindles are more your preference click here
-Christie
Turda, Marius. (2007). Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. Social History of Medicine. 20. 620-621. 10.1093/shm/hkm086.
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