Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, names people have all come to know because of the fight they have both lost individually due to being African American. The issue of racism against African Americans has become problematic, but none more so than in the medical field. The medical field has been set up in numerous ways to discriminate against African Americans. Using tools to score people of color low on medical exams, infecting people with diseases that often ended in death, and even taking cancerous cells without consent. The medical field has affected African Americans negatively throughout history. People have all been informed of how African Americans have been oppressed throughout history in forms of racism, but not many know their oppression
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Henrietta being taken from is now known to many but no one has made the effort to correct this in any way, in fact even though Henrietta's family is popular in the health field, they cannot afford health insurance.. Rebecca writes about Henrietta's family being unwealthy even with their mothers popularity in health stating, “She's the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother is so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?” (Skloot, The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, 2010, p. 168). Rebecca Skloot highlights the many forms of injustice brought upon Henrietta lacks and her family. Henrietta's children had to come to the realization a part of their mother was taken and sold around the world, and as if that is not enough even with their mothers contribution to the medical field they are still unable to receive health insurance. Though upsetting, this was a norm throughout that time in the medical field. A norm that overly exposed and propagated a sickly African American woman and her …show more content…
In the article, How Racism Creeps Into Medicine, Hamza Shaban speaks on a study that took place during the Civil War that had shown medical staff were scoring black soldiers lower than white soldiers using a spirometer, a tool used to measure lung capacity, though the device was once used slave physicians to show African Americans had weaker lungs than the white citizens. This sparked Hamza’s interest in tools being used today that scored people of color lower on medical exams. In the article Hamza Shaban reveals, “Today, doctors examine our lungs using spirometers that are "race corrected." Normal values for lung health are reduced for patients that doctors identify as black”(Shaban, "How Racism Creeps Into Medicine"). Hamza Shaban is informing readers that todays doctors are continuing to use tools that score people lower on medical exams based on their race. A person's skin color should not be the determining factor on their level of health. Using tools like the spirometer may lead an African American to believe they are less healthy than they actually are, causing concern with both patient and doctor. The use of tools of this nature are illogical and
Henrietta being taken from is now known to many but no one has made the effort to correct this in any way, in fact even though Henrietta's family is popular in the health field, they cannot afford health insurance.. Rebecca writes about Henrietta's family being unwealthy even with their mothers popularity in health stating, “She's the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother is so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?” (Skloot, The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, 2010, p. 168). Rebecca Skloot highlights the many forms of injustice brought upon Henrietta lacks and her family. Henrietta's children had to come to the realization a part of their mother was taken and sold around the world, and as if that is not enough even with their mothers contribution to the medical field they are still unable to receive health insurance. Though upsetting, this was a norm throughout that time in the medical field. A norm that overly exposed and propagated a sickly African American woman and her …show more content…
In the article, How Racism Creeps Into Medicine, Hamza Shaban speaks on a study that took place during the Civil War that had shown medical staff were scoring black soldiers lower than white soldiers using a spirometer, a tool used to measure lung capacity, though the device was once used slave physicians to show African Americans had weaker lungs than the white citizens. This sparked Hamza’s interest in tools being used today that scored people of color lower on medical exams. In the article Hamza Shaban reveals, “Today, doctors examine our lungs using spirometers that are "race corrected." Normal values for lung health are reduced for patients that doctors identify as black”(Shaban, "How Racism Creeps Into Medicine"). Hamza Shaban is informing readers that todays doctors are continuing to use tools that score people lower on medical exams based on their race. A person's skin color should not be the determining factor on their level of health. Using tools like the spirometer may lead an African American to believe they are less healthy than they actually are, causing concern with both patient and doctor. The use of tools of this nature are illogical and