Health patterns and outcomes have generally been poorer among the blacks compared to whites for centuries. Many studies have attempted to study the extent and reasons or the health disparity between these two races. Accordingly, some scholars have attempted to explore the characteristics of African Americans and their descendants to determine characteristics attributable and distinct to the health status recorded by the blacks. Empirical evidence constructs a narrative of slavery having substantial impact on health and medicine in the United States today.
Historically, white physicians have reportedly used race as a factor in healthcare inequality. For instance, a publication by Amy Roeder (2017) of Harvard University states that when yellow fever struck in the 1700s, it was prevalent in the whites compared to blacks. Practitioners attributed the difference to immunity in the sense that blacks were immune from contracting the disease, given their history before slavery. It was later discovered that this was speculation after an enormous number of blacks got sick and died from the disease.
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The healthcare system of today, to some extent, is a product of the discriminatory laws enacted during and after the abolishment of slavery. Discrimination occurs when a certain group of people does not have access to quality healthcare because of their race, something that Baker (2014) highlights. According to Amy Roeder (2017), after the Civil War, the enactment of Jim Crow laws in the south and some states in the west had a negative impact on the blacks. For example, the mortality rates among blacks were significantly higher. Today, despite significant improvements, mortality rates are still massively higher among African Americans.
The impact of slavery on health and medicine is considered a complex problem; however, it is solvable. In an interview, Linda Villarosa proposes a project known as the New York Times’s 1619 Project (Public Broadcasting Service, 2019). It is a rigorous journalist-based initiative aimed at educating key healthcare stakeholders about how slavery shaped the health of Americans today. Lessons from such a project would help transform healthcare system to cater to the needs of blacks.
Although slavery ended centuries ago, its repercussions are still felt in the healthcare of today. The institutionalization of inequality has made it a challenge for African Americans to receive desirable care. Black communities lack sufficient quality healthcare providers, and even the few that exist, lack appropriate resources needed to deliver beneficial care. Additionally, the ratio between white physicians to blacks does not match that of the general race, depicting an element of disparity. Proposed remedies to the challenge include educating key stakeholders.
References
Baker, R. B. (2014). The American Medical Association and Race. AMA Journal of Ethics , 16 (6), 479-488.
Linda Villarosa on the Legacy of Slavery in the US. (2019). Retrieved 5 November 2019, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/linda-villarosa-on-the-legacy-of-slavery-in-the-us/
Roeder, A. (2017). Understanding slavery’s legacy in health and medicine. Retrieved 4 November 2019, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/understanding-slavery-legacy-in-health-medicine/
