I continue to read, reflect, and spotlight pieces in the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project. Today I read Linda Villarosa’s article entitled, Myths about physical racial differences were used to justify slavery — and are still believed by doctors today.
As I’ve mentioned, I want to avoid summarizing these works, though it does feel as if the titles each time capture the gist well (and, one hopes, in the author’s words). This article is a bit shorter than the first two, which was merciful because even though the past two articles included specifics about the horrors of slavery, I found this report even more gruesome, both reading about the deeds themselves and witnessing the monstrousness of these white doctors incapable of sympathy for the suffering of their fellow human beings.
I feel uncomfortable quoting any part of those passages, so I will quote instead a salient fact from the latter part of the article:
A 2016 survey of 222 white medical students and residents published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that half of them endorsed at least one myth about physiological differences between black people and white people, including that black people’s nerve endings are less sensitive than white people’s. (Villarosa)
That, with some of her other findings, not to mention her own famous investigation into black infant and maternal mortality, raises deep concerns about the quality of healthcare provided to people of color in this country.
reader. writer. 