Essay On The Tuskegee Study

The Tuskegee Study, which lasted 40 years, reveals the steadfast beliefs and little knowledge within the 20th century medical community about the African American people, the nature of sex, and how venereal diseases spread. The Tuskegee Study’s negative impacts reached beyond just the poor African American men who were used as the experiment’s subjects, but to their partners and children as well. Not only was the entire health of a community jeopardized by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) by leaving a communicable disease untreated, but the heavy use of deceit towards the study’s unknowing test subjects illustrates how the race concept and Social Darwinism was so influential in public health during the time. Thankfully, the treatment of human beings like laboratory animals is highly implausible in this day and age.

In 1929, under a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) set out to conduct a study in the rural South to determine the prevalence of syphilis among the poor black population, and whether mass treatment for this disease would be attainable. During their primary survey for locations, the USPHS came across Macon County, Alabama, where the town of Tuskegee is located. They found Macon County to have the highest syphilis rate out of the other half dozen counties surveyed. This area was also referred to as the “Black Belt”, due to its rich soil and vast number of poor black sharecroppers. Through this short study, it was concluded that mass treatment could be successfully implemented among these rural blacks. This came at bad timing though, for the economy crashed in 1929, and these findings were of course ignored.

Fast forward three years, to 1932. The USPHS C...

... middle of paper ...

...ided by them was welcomed. For this community to then find out that these medical providers they had trusted with their health for decades have been lying and using them comes as a big blow. What could have been a huge step forward for the relationship between disadvantaged Americans and the federal health public system became a big step back.

Even forty years later, the Tuskegee Study continues to cast a shadow over the relationship between disadvantaged African Americans and the US public health practice. However, the numerous reports claiming that this study is the biggest reason why many African Americans distrust the US public health institution are wrong. Although, as stated, it did and still does have a negative impact, such claims neglect to see that this is a multidimensional issue, with other historical, political and economic factors that come into play.