tuskegee syphilis study

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Recommended: Detailed Knowledge of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was an unethical prospective study based on the differences between white and black males that began in the 1930’s. This study involved the mistreatment of black males and their families in an experimental study of the effects of untreated syphilis. With very little knowledge of the study or the disease by participants, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study can be seen as one of the worst forms of injustices in the United States history. Even though one could argue that the study was originally intended to be for good use, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was immoral and racist because only poor, uneducated black males were used in experiment, the participants were not properly informed of their participation in the experiment, and the participants were withheld from any type of treatment. This paper is designed to explain how the African American males that were used in this study were systematically chosen to be exploited based on race and socio-economic factors.

Living in the 1930’s was hard for many African Americans. The Great Depression was evident as many African Americans were hired as sharecroppers of cotton crops to work the land of white landowners. Most of these sharecroppers had little to no formal education. The conditions were horrible as many of these families had no running water, electricity, or medical care. African Americans had higher mortality and morbidity rates than whites during this time. Many believed that it would be a waste to provide blacks with more medical attention during a time where many resources were scarce. A few members of the United States Public Health Service disagreed and wanted to prove that blacks too needed more healthcare and that government funded services were just as...

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...Nature”: The Tuskegee Experiments and the New South Plantation." Journal of Medical Humanities 30.3 (2009): 155-171. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Sharma, Alankaar. "Diseased Race, Racialized Disease: The Story Of The Negro Project Of American Social Hygiene Association Against The Backdrop Of The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment." Journal of African American Studies 14.2 (2010): 247-262. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Thomas, S. B., and S. C. Quinn. "The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, 1932 to 1972: Implications for HIV Education and AIDS Risk Education Programs in the Black Community." American Journal of Public Health 81.11 (1991): 1498-505. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Walker, Charles A. "Lest We Forget: The Tuskegee Experiment." The Journal of Theory Construction & Testing 13.1 (2009): 5-6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2011.

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