Henrietta Lacks Social Conditions

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot tells us about a number of different social conditions that caused problems for Henrietta Lacks (a middle-aged African- American woman who lived during the 1950’s). In the era that she lived, it was typical for the common African-American to be discriminated against, have a lack of education, or be poor. These were social conditions that not only surrounded Henrietta but also had a significant effect in her life.These were hardships that every African-American in the 1950’s dealt with every day of their lives. With the many complications, these social conditions caused their health and well-being were greatly affected because of Jim Crow laws that made it difficult for African Americans …show more content…
Like many African Americans during this time, getting an education was not a priority. Black families used their children for field work because they did not have money, so they needed as much help as they could get. Schools were not accessible to African Americans, and when schooling was available the children would be taught in a small shed or children had to travel long distances to get to school. During the travel, they encountered racist experiences, like rocks being thrown at them as they walked. The author states, “she walked two miles-- past white schools where children threw rocks...”.Since Henrietta had an education of an 11 or 12-year-old was not knowledgeable about many things, especially when it came to going to hospitals and understanding the severity of the many health conditions she had like syphilis and gonorrhea, and blood found in her urine. Skloot explains that Henrietta knew more about working in a field but when it came to the medical side of things she had no idea what doctors were telling her.“She knew about harvesting tobacco...never heard the word cervix or biopsy.”. Henrietta was clueless to the many conditions she was being told she had by that was affecting her health. Skloot goes on to tell us how Lacks never showed up to any of the follow-ups because she did not understand the importance of her getting her health problems taken care of. In the book, Skloot adds …show more content…
The world has changed a great deal since then because of social movements like, the Civil Rights Movement which fought for equal rights for African Americans and whites. Although this has helped with segregation and equal rights, racism is still a problem today. Many biases still arise in public places like hospitals. They may not deny treatment but they do not provide the same treatment to minorities as they do to white people. According to Health.Harvard.edu, they state “ ...minority groups…experience more illness, worse outcomes...compared to whites.”. Minority groups often receive care but sometimes that care is not always the best. Leading to other health concerning problems like heart disease, cancer, and many other illnesses, that cause high death rates among minorities. Racism is still alive and well today even after Henrietta’s time. Although it may not be to the extent that is was in the 50’s, it is still a concept that is causing problems for