Today’s Black History Lesson: When most of you hear the word or name “Tuskegee,” you likely think of the Tuskegee Airmen, which were the first Black military aviators in the U.S. armed forces who fought in World War II or Tuskegee University, the first black college to be designated as a Registered National Historic Landmark (April 2, 1966), and the only black college to be designated a National Historic Site (October 26, 1974), a district administered by the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of Interior. However, today, I’m not going to discuss their many accomplishments. I am going to discuss the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. “In 1932, the Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute, began a study to record the natural history of syphilis in hopes of justifying treatment programs for blacks. It was called the ‘Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.’ The study initially involved 600 black men – 399 with syphilis, 201 who did not have the disease. The study was conducted without the benefit of patients informed consent. Researchers told the men they were being treated for bad blood, a local term used to describe several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. In truth, they did not receive the proper treatment needed to cure their illness. In exchange for taking part in the study, the men received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. Although originally projected to last 6 months, the study actually went on for 40 YEARS (1932-1972).” During this “experiment,” the Black men were never actually treated for their syphilis. When penicillin became the treatment for the disease, it was never administered. Blacks involved in the experiment thought that they were being given free healthcare by the government because of “bad blood.” The Blacks involved in the “study” were never given the option that they could quit, nor was the purpose of the study ever explained to them to be able to give informed consent. It gets much worse than this, but instead of writing an essay about one of the many atrocities that happened to our people, I encourage you to look it up on your own. We need to get in the habit of doing our own research, not just taking someone else’s word for things, and learning OUR history so that it isnt forgotten. After that comes the most important part, PASS IT ON. Knowledge is power and needs to be shared.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 18:11:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015