Race is a social construct.
So why is there such a major discrepancy in healthcare for black women?
Historically, black people have been subject to medical abuse for the benefit of American medicine. Although we know scientifically that race is not dependent on biology, America has a history of abuse against black people. From the time of the Antebellum period, doctors treated black people as less than human. Doctors would operate on female slaves without consent, or anesthetic. That was just the beginning. Throughout history we see more and more abuse from white doctors to black patients. (Washington, H. A. (2010). Medical apartheid the dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present. Paw Prints.)
Systematically, black people have faced terrible treatment for hundreds of years. The idea of racist medicine is nothing new, but something that still occurs to this day. In 2020, a 30-year old social-studies teacher from Brooklyn, Rana Zoe Mugin, died from COVID-19 complications after she was unable to get to the hospital in time. EMTs insisted she was just having a panic attack. When she was finally able to make her way to the hospital, the physician said she was one of the worst cases he had seen.
Even if we improve the healthcare black women receive, there is still systematic inequalities that prevent women from getting quality healthcare. From access being extremely limited, to monetary limitations. Black Americans are 2x more likely to be uninsured compared to their white counterparts, and therefore less likely to seek treatment for underlying causes, and more susceptible to other life-threatening illnesses.
The only way to break down the medical abuse that traumatized people for generations is to equalize medical care. Break down any racism that is embedded in medical practices, and ensure accessible medical care.
©2023 by UnjustMedicine. Created by Faith Phillips
Sources:
Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2021
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2021/maternal-mortality-rates-2021.htm
Donna L. Hoyert
Racial and Ethnic Disparities Continue in Pregnancy-Related Deaths
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnancy-deaths.html
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