Critics of Black Lives Matter say the movement is racist. Their counterargument is that all lives matter. There is a historical perspective that is lost in that view. Black lives in the U.S. did not seem to matter in the late 18th century.
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The lack of health care for enslaved people was one of the cruelties heaped upon them. Babies and children were not doing well. After giving birth, mothers were often forced to return to the fields as soon as possible, leaving their infants without food or care. The infant mortality rate was once thought to be 50%. Adult people who were slaves were often beaten.
I study ways to stop racism, promote social justice, and help the Black community. There is a relationship between the health of enslaved Blacks and the making of America.
Racist medical theory.
The enslaved people who worked for the white masters were often brutal and dehumanized. Slaveholders used the view of Black superiority and the physical differences between Blacks and whites to justify their treatment. Racist medical theory said that blacks were inherently inferior and needed to be mistreated to be sound for work.
The people were poorly fed and overcrowded. Their housing was bare, cold and windowless. Slaves were not paid for personal hygiene. There was not much dental care, clothes went unwashed, baths were not frequent, and beds were not clean. Body lice, ringworm and bedbugs were common.
Europeans built slave dungeons on the coast of Africa, where enslaved Blacks were to be shipped to the New World. 200 people were cloistered in tiny spaces where they ate, slept, urinated and defecated. The dirt floors were soaked in vomit, urine, feces and menstrual blood. Those who tried to clean the dungeon were discouraged because it was so dangerous.
There is a dungeon for women at the Cape Coast Fort. Eric Kyere, CC BY-SA.
Slaves rarely saw doctors.
Typhus and other diseases were common among the enslaved people in the colonies and later the states. The slave owner only brought in a doctor as a last resort. The white master and his wife provided the health care, though rarely were either trained physicians. Older enslaved women brought their knowledge of plants and herbs from Africa to the Americas.
Blacks had no say in their care. Black patients were not told anything about their condition if a doctor was involved. The report was sent to the slave owner.
Black women played multiple roles. They were part of the labor force. They took care of the sick. They were also used to make more black bodies. Slave owners needed a new source of labor after the mid-Atlantic slave trade was banned. A pregnant woman gave that possibility. The birth of a baby born into slavery meant profits that could last generations, a product requiring little investment.
The Edisto Island plantation had slaves on it. The Universal Images Group has images.
Medical research is terrifying.
Some of the Black women were used in medical experiments, while other research focused on maternal health. The white scientists inflicted pain on the pregnant women and the babies sometimes died. Many white physicians and medical institutions gained fame and wealth through the torture of these women.
The invention of the speculum for gynecological exams was made possible by adverse health consequences for Blacks. A woman was reportedly subjected to 30 surgeries without anesthesia. Medical interests, economic interests, and political interests were served.
Black and white Americans still have health differences more than 150 years later. Understanding the unfairness of the past is needed to fix what is wrong today. Structural racism is present within the American system. Knowledge of the history is needed to understand how racism revives itself and how to interrupt it.
The Conversation is a news site that shares ideas from academic experts. Eric Kyere wrote it.
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Eric Kyere does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
