Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present Paperback – Illustrated, January 8, 2008

As its title states, this book examines the history of medically "justified" and pseudo-science backed abuses of black Americans from colonial to modern times.Harriet Washington traces American racism from a medical standpoint from the early days, when science was more curious than anything else, to the days of slavery, when religion and science went hand in hand to justify by divine sanction, on the one hand, and by scientific reason, on the other, that black slaves were inferior to their white masters - morally, physically and mentally; after the end of slavery, when that brand of religious racism held less sway, Darwinism was pulled into the mix; and, now, when words such as "inferior" are never used in a racial context, expect in a discussion of historical viewpoints, or by the most ardent racists, other, more insidious terms pop up - for the same purposes of exploitation and abuse. While the evolution of racism in the US is not the main topic of this book, it is inevitably linked; this book is an interesting look at how the two, racism and racist abuse of minorities, have worked together throughout American history. This book is easy to read language-wise, although the content is very difficult at times.Some of the highlights of Washington's work:- She examines how the slave-holders wielded faulty - and, sometimes, simultaneously contradictory - scientific theories to justify the harshest abuses of black slaves, as well as the institution of slavery itself. African-Americans were both extremely susceptible to disease and incapable of living on their own (thusly in need of their masters' gracious benevolence), yet at the same immune to diseases white people could contract in the fields, doing the same labor.- She touches on the pseudo-scientific/medical "justifications" for the sexual exploitation of female slaves. As black people were (according to the prevailing racial ideas of the day) morally as well as physically and intellectually inferior, it was the wanton female slave, and not the virtuous white master, who was to blame when rape occurred. This went hand in hand with the wholly accepted exploitation of female slaves as breeders of new slaves (Washington quotes Thomas Jefferson as declaring, "I consider a slave woman who breeds once every two years as profitable as the best worker on the farm.")- She follows medical abuses of blacks as they morphed from the era of slavery (when the health of blacks was regarded only insomuch as it brought profit to a slave owner, and blacks often fell victim to the ownership of doctors who preyed upon their legal status of "property" to conduct all manner of horrendous experiments) to freedom (where black health was still considered of no account, and blacks still found themselves the unwitting victims of abuse - including body snatching, experimentation, etc.).- She examines the era of eugenics, when abuse morphed into a desire to exterminate - all for the purpose of creating a genetically perfect group of people, of course.- She includes a lengthy examination of some of the more recent experimental abuses, ranging from studies performed with out consent, without the hint of therapeutic benefit, etc.- She also includes an examination of abusive "research" conducted on prison populations, which, proportional to the "outside" population, were considerably skewed to include far more black victims than representative of the overall population.Washington covers far more than these points, and each of these points is examined at length, in detail. Her sources are many, and her writing - even when discussing the most horrendous abuses, the most offensive racism, etc. - is easy to follow.There are times, I think, that Washington assumes a racial motive for what is not necessarily racially motivated - such as HIV/AIDS experimental pediatric treatments that target primarily black orphans/foster kids. Is this really a racially motivated abuse, or are these kids just the most vulnerable and easiest to get at for the researchers? In other words, are the researchers targeting them because they are black, or are they targeting them because they are powerless and friendless, and therefore easy subjects for research? I'd be inclined to believe the latter. Not that that makes it right, by any stretch of the imagination; I'm just not convinced that skin color is a deciding (or motivating) factor. Unscrupulous people will target vulnerable populations, period. If Washington could show that the same researchers bypassed similar white populations to prey on black ones, I could more easily believe that race was a deciding factor. Of course, this discussion is made less straightforward by the abandonment of racist terminology...a hundred - even fifty - years ago, there would be no need to wonder; racially motivated experimentation, as Washington shows, was openly labeled as such by the researchers involved. Now, words are chosen more carefully...so racist intent, if it exists, is masked behind non-racial language. Regardless, whether the intent of such studies is racist or not, the outcome is that, by design or no, blacks still face exploitative studies and disproportionate risks.All in all, this is a very well researched, thought-provoking book. This is one more piece, often overlooked, in the discussion of American racism, and one that we cannot afford to overlook. We've all read the religious justifications for murder, slavery, and all sorts of other evils, that mankind has thought up through the ages. We know, too, from the abuses of the Nazis, that the scientific and medical justifications, when science and medicine abandon their true purposes, can be just as terrible. But it was not the Nazis, Mengele, etc., who exemplified this for us; American doctors, researchers and scientists have a terrible history of their own. It is intellectually dishonest, and morally dangerous, to ignore the wrongs committed by those on "our shores"; it may be comforting to think of forced sterilization programs as a Nazi-Germany thing, and so distance ourselves from that savagery. But forced sterilization, the "one drop" rule, Pocahontas exception, etc., etc., etc. were all American things; there is no distance between our culture and a culture that could produce such wrongs. Ours did, a relatively short time ago; pretending it did not happen will not prevent it from happening again. We need to see more books like this one - books that confront America's racist past, rather than ignoring it or pretending it vanished when black kids could go to the same schools as white kids, or African-Americans could ride anywhere they wanted in a bus. Washington's honest look at the brutal reality of racism in medicine is exactly the sort of discussion we need to be having - about all aspects of racism.5/5 stars

Book came in amazing condition. So much information in the introduction alone. Super excited to read & learn more.

I've read this book twice so far, and I intend on reading it again.My first time reading this, it was an emotionally draining experience. So, it took me a few weeks to read the book. The second read, while still emotionally draining, was a bit easier for me. The information in this book is invaluable to Black medical professionals. And I would say that it should be damn-near required reading for any Black medical professional whose intention is to serve in highly Black populated areas.The book traces medically acist atrocities all across America's timeline, as well as in some areas outside of the United States. This includes present-time based on the time this book was published. (Obviously, it doesn't chronicle anything that happened after the publication of the book.) And it puts forth a great effort to back up any and all reporting shared throughout the book. Harriet. The author, also makes events easy to follow for the most part. Though, for those who prefer events to be spoken about chronologically, like myself, that isn't done here and, due to the nature of how long some of these atrocities happened, that likely wasn't even possible. Despite this, there is a thread of order to the book. Most of the events chronicled in the beginning of the book happened far in the past, and most of the stuff chronicled later in the book happened closer to present-time.The issues spoken about in this book are littered with cited sources. I haven't gone through all of them yet, but I do intend on doing so. This book will serve as a study guide of sorts to further educate myself on medical racism. From what I can tell, it is an excellent starting point.Darn good book. Darn good read. And damn-near essential for any Black medical professional of any level. From EMT-B all the way up to physician, and everything in between. Doubly true for those involved in bioethics.