VIEWS

- OctaVia Butler

March 25, 2021 11

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS A doctor, right, draws blood from a man as part of the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the African American Male” in Tuskeegee, Alabama. Black Americans’ healthcare challenges

US history of medical racism leads to vaccine hesitancy for many

BY PAUL QUICK STAFF REPORTER

Some are becoming increasingly aware that African Americans are wary of the recently approved vaccines that promise to restore some sense of normalcy to their and all Americans’ lives.

It is especially concerning considering how COVID-19 has ravaged our communities.

Blacks often lack access to quality health care and are more likely to work in low-end jobs that are considered “essential,” but offer less protection from exposure to the virus.

Is there such a thing as medical racism? Let’s look at the history of U.S. healthcare and the Black citizens of this country.

Back in 1932, the U.S. Public Health Study began an experiment called the Tuskegee Study. Black men in Mason County, Alabama who had syphilis were told they would be treated. However, the study’s actual purpose was to learn if untreated syphilis affected Black men differently than White. The entire study was based on “fake science” to determine the biological difference between Blacks and Whites.

The government never intended to provide treatment. As a result, as many as 100 men died. Hundreds of women were infected and some of the women passed the disease unto their children.

You might be thinking that someone must undoubtedly have shut down such a horrific practice after a few years. No, this inhumane “study” did not end until 1972.

Another infamous example is Dr. J. Marion Sims, the so-called father of modern gynecology, who performed extensive vaginal experiments on enslaved Black women without anesthesia.

Medical abuse of Black people even occurred after death. Medical colleges would pay enslavers and grave robbers for Black bodies so their students could study human anatomy.

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, East Baltimore residents would warn their children to be on the porch after dark to ensure their safety from being kidnapped for experiments at nearby Johns Hopkins University. When dozens of Black children went missing in Atlanta, Georgia between 1979 and 1981, some in the Black community thought the CDC had abducted them.

Another story well known to Black Americans is Henrietta Lacks. Lacks was a poor Black woman whose cancer cells were used by doctors and pharmaceutical companies for decades without her knowledge, permission or compensation.

Early in the 20th century, doctors forcibly sterilized women who were deemed unfit for reproduction. Of course, the majority of these women were Black. These involuntary sterilizations continued into the mid-1970s.

Although every Black American is not aware of these atrocities, they are mindful of their own challenges in navigating health care institutions.

Studies show that disparities in the medical treatment of Black patients persist to this day. They tend to be sicker and suffer higher mortality rates than their White counterparts. New Black mothers are three times more likely to die in childbirth than White mothers.

Against this backdrop of medical misconduct, we have the current administration’s earnest effort to get the message out that the vaccines are safe. Barack and Michelle Obama’s very public taking of the vaccine was undoubtedly an attempt to assuage the concerns of Black Americans. It may not be enough.

A study by the Pew Research Center reveals that only 42% of Blacks say they will take the vaccine when it becomes available to them. In comparison, 60% of Whites and Hispanics indicated they would take it immediately.

Perhaps not surprisingly, only about 50% of Whites who identify as conservative indicate they intend to get vaccinated. But that is a column for another day.

The distrust of the medical community runs deep. Another study found that one in five African Americans avoids going to the doctor for fear of medical discrimination. Many have also pointed to the rapid development and approval of the COVID-19 vaccines as a cause for concern.

It’s hard to discount these suspicions when there is so much historical data giving validity to them. Even now, there are allegations of inequity in the distribution of the vaccine.

“There has never been any period where the health of Blacks was equal to that of Whites,” Harvard historian Evelyn Hammonds told the New York Times. “Disparity is built into the system.”

One could argue that framing the distrust of COVID-19 vaccines in everyday racism may increase underserved communities’ willingness to be vaccinated.

Public health announcements featuring Black physicians would be beneficial. It should come as no surprise that a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) study showed that Black Americans are twice as likely to trust a messenger of their ethnicity than one outside of it.

It should be highlighted that a Black American woman developed the Moderna vaccine, Kizzmekia Corbett.

Perhaps the best way to remedy the atrocities of the past is to change the present. For many Black Americans, access is one thing. The willingness to take the vaccine is another.

ELIAS CASTILLO | UNSPLASH A crowd of people in a room holds American flags in the air. President Joe Biden’s immigration proposal may allow new citizens to wave their own flags in a few years. Social justice requires group effort

Now is the time to organize, hold new administration accountable

BY JULIO RODRIGUEZ STAFF REPORTER

With the election of President Joe Biden came a unified sigh of relief: President Donald Trump was gone.

I was working my shift at a local windows company the morning it happened, alongside people from all walks of life. My coworkers lived in Perris, Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Hemet and all over the surrounding area.

They were single mothers whose children were home alone while they were at work and men who were the sole breadwinners of their homes.

Hope shone in their eyes when the news reports confirming Biden’s win began rolling in. One of my coworkers high-fived me and, with a look of relief, said, “we won.”

The election alone felt like a real victory. But the real work has only just begun.

For many around our country, specifically the most vulnerable communities of color and lowerincome communities, not very much has changed. Increased and continued community organizing is still as essential as it was under Trump.

There has been so much hope and optimism. But the issues continue.

Police officers continue to murder innocent people and are allowed to walk away without any repercussions. Immigrant children are entering this country in large numbers and being housed away from family and loved ones in immigration detention centers.

While there is plenty to celebrate in Biden’s election and Trump’s defeat, the electoral victory can prove to be for nothing if we do not keep up momentum in political organization and community advocacy.

Biden campaigned on many promises and, granted, has started to deliver to a certain extent.

He signed into law a COVID-19 relief bill March 11 that is already sending $1,400 stimulus checks to most of the country’s adults and children.

Vice President Kamala Harris swore into her post the first Native American cabinet member in United States history, Deb Haaland, as Secretary of the Interior on March 18. Just a few hours later, the House of Representatives passed an immigration bill with a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and undocumented farmworkers.

But the recently passed immigration bill and future proposals aiming to tackle police reform and gun policy will not become law without continued focus and engagement from all of us. There are many wonderful organizations locally and nationwide doing amazing work to advance this kind of legislation. Still, this effort will require all hands on deck and help from all of us. We must support organizations doing good work and educate ourselves and those closest to us.

That is why organizing, in the political sense, is crucial.

It is crucial for the aspirations and needs of marginalized communities. The fight against a murderous criminal justice system that brutalizes and destroys communities of color must continue, as must the fight for fair taxation, better schools and equitable funding in this country.

We must organize and push for policies in the best interests of ourselves and those we love. This is our moment. This is our call to get passionate. Both left and right-wing millionaire senators have proven for years that they do not listen to their constituents. They must be forced to do their jobs in support of the people they represent.

These feats can be accomplished because history shows that political movements have created positive change in this country. This will happen when we talk to family members, get friends excited, attend town halls with local politicians and get involved in local civic groups. Do something.

If you care about positive change happening in your own life and in the lives of those you love, it is going to require that you stay engaged and active.

Ensuring that this presidency enacts good social justice policies will require resolve.

Achieving legal status for all of our undocumented family members and friends and ensuring the immigration bill passed by the House becomes law will require a relentless push.

The fight for police reform through a lens that recognizes law enforcement’s history of violent racism is backed by a simple reason: Black and brown lives matter.

Enough is enough of the blame game the Democratic Party plays. It has control of the House, Senate and presidency. Democrats must make things happen now.

This country is due for a revolution.

This revolution will be born out of love for our people and communities, not hatred of others.

New administration slows on promises

President Joe Biden assures progress, many plans still up in the air

as an opportunity to show how he is making progress toward the America that he pledged to rebuild.

While it is his third month of the presidency, Biden has only done 8% of what he has promised, according to Politifact. This does not include the $2,000 stimulus checks he promised, which was a significant push for his campaign.

While he has spoken about his immediate plans, what won’t he do?

As mentioned, Biden has signed five executive orders within the first month of his presidency, and one just this past March 16. These include the transgender ban reversal in the military, rejoining the World Health Organization and reversing former President Donald Trump’s travel ban. While this seems like good progress toward his policies, will Biden still make an effort to appease the left, which helped elect him?

The answer appears to be up in the air. On one hand, Biden needs to be fulfilling, hypothetically, about two campaign promises a month, which he is on track to do. That was all in January, though, and his momentum seems to be slowing.

He has yet to confirm planning some of the major promises that got him elected. This includes decriminalizing marijuana, public options for health care, pulling out of affairs in Afghanistan and forgiving some student loan debt for public colleges and universities.

Biden still has a 64% positive rating from Americans and could potentially be preparing to use this to his advantage to handle other affairs.

As for his presidency’s future, he has been pushing for a uniting of the American people.

But the House of Representatives and Senate seem not to be ready for that. This could also potentially hint at his plans not to fulfill some of the left-leaning campaign promises.

Again, a large majority of his plans are up in the air.

The only thing that seems certain is that Biden will be making more progress toward healing America of the effects of COVID-19 and pushing to repair its unity.