Below are examples of ill-treatment of African Americans before the Tuskegee experiment, and shows how the fear of medicine was around before the experiment; however, the experiment really solidified it and made them believe their rumors to be reality. It explains the racist way that the Tuskegee participants were looked at by authorities, very similar to the days of slavery. They felt that the men were different and inferior, therefore they had the right to use them for their experimentations. However, it also backs up the mistrust of African Americans of the medical community and of whites in general. What's interesting is how much these past events affect people today versus the men who participated in the actual experiment. While I have no clear, documented proof that says they didn't fear the medical community around them, I feel that the participants pushed past their fears because of desperation. As noted on the TIMELINE page, Macon County was extremely poor and with very little help from the government, not even their local government. They jumped at the opportunity to receive free treatment because they had no other options. Below shows the maltreatment of the past and just how this has continued.
- Antebellum Slavery
Two experiments really stand out during the antebellum period, but there were numerous other experiments (recorded and not) that exploited the use of slaves and their lack of rights. In Georgia, Thomas Hamilton tried tests on a slave, Fed, in order to find remedies for heatstroke. Fed had to sit naked in a pit that was heated to extremely high temperatures. Given various medications, he was subjected into the pit multiple times during a 2-3 week period in order to see which helped him withstand the heat the best. He was only taken out of the pit when he fainted and has to be removed. Another in Alabama, Dr. J. Marion Sims used slave women in order to develop a safe operation to repair vesicovaginal fistulas. The women were subjected to horrible operations that were extremely painful and done without anesthetics. These experiments and exploitation of the slaves continued their feelings of fear when it came to studies and research: they feared becoming guinea pigs, pain, and/or death.
- Night Doctors
See for more information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1381160/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Doctors
http://fyb.umd.edu/2011/night-doctors.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Doctors
http://fyb.umd.edu/2011/night-doctors.html