The C.O.W.S. MEDICAL APARTHEID Part IV

The Context of White Supremacy hosts the fourth study session on Harriet A. Washington’s phenomenal text, Medical Apartheid: The Dark History Of Medical Experimentation On Black Americans From Colonial Times To Present. Washington’s historic work uncovers hundreds of years of deliberate pillaging of black bodies under the guise of “science.” Washington’s research should affect how black people interrogate the scientific breakthroughs of whitefolks – like the “crispr” gene editing technology and DNA tracing websites that stockpile genetic material. Last week’s session examined the tradition of showcasing the suffering and molestation of black people for Racist audiences. Washington includes the public degradations of Ota Benga, Joice Heth and Saartjie Baartman to contextualize how black suffering was made into entertainment for Whites. Medical butchers continued this tradition, surgically mutilating black bodies in front of audiences with total disregard for the suffering or humanity of the black person being molested. Medical Apartheid should be mandatory reading for attempted counter-racists and all black people.