Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present – Harriet A. Washington

Like most cats, I grew up learning about the horrors of The Tuskegee Experiment and how that betrayed and traumatized the Black Community.

But there was so much more…

Remember, slaves had no rights. None. So imagine slave traders (doctors) purchasing slaves for the very purpose of experimentation.
It happened…

How about the displaying of Black bodies for theatre, amusement and medicine?
It happened…

Radiation experimentation?
It happened…

And imagine being a Black prisoner?
It happened…

Our poor children, diagnosed with everything under the sun, often without parental awareness then being prescribed non-FDA approved drugs?
It happened…

And there’s so much more that Ms. Washington chronicles in this masterpiece of the injustices bestowed upon the Black community in the name of medical research. She even gets more in-depth with The Tuskegee Experiment. It’s a wonder we have an aversion to doctors. Us Blacks wanna just ‘walk it off, ‘sleep it off,’ or ask any grandparent to go to the doctor and you’ll get a flat out ,’No!’ The horrors surrounding John Hopkins are real and historically we are afraid of the medical establishment with reason to be, after reading this book.

But I loved how she finished it. We have to face our fears, do our research and assist in medical science. We’re a unique species with much to give and we need to embrace that and go to the doctor (but research! is key)!

Definitely one of my best all-time reads.