1932-1972 | The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: A Dark Moment in American Medical History

Today, I come to you with a story that is both tragic and infuriating. A story that highlights the insidiousness of racism and the ways in which it can be weaponized against people of color, particularly Black Americans. I am speaking, of course, of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted a study in which African American men with syphilis were left untreated. These men were promised free medical care, meals, and burial insurance in exchange for participating in the study. However, the researchers did not tell them that they had syphilis, nor did they offer them any treatment for the disease. The researchers wanted to study the natural progression of the disease, so they intentionally withheld treatment, even after penicillin became the standard treatment for syphilis in 1947.

Can you imagine? Being promised medical care, only to be left to suffer and die from a curable disease. This is what happened to these men. And what makes it even worse is that the researchers knew that they were withholding treatment that could have saved lives. In fact, when penicillin became widely available in the 1950s, the researchers actively prevented the study participants from accessing it.

It was not until 1972, when a whistle-blower exposed the study to the public, that it finally came to an end. By that point, 28 of the men had died from syphilis, 100 more had died from related complications, and 40 of their wives had been infected with the disease. The study was a horrific example of medical malpractice and racism, and it sparked widespread outrage and changes to research ethics.

But why did this happen? Why were these men targeted and left to suffer? The answer, my friends, is racism. The researchers saw these men as disposable, as less than human, and so they felt justified in withholding treatment from them. They saw them as mere subjects for their research, not as human beings with inherent dignity and worth.

And this is not an isolated incident. Throughout history, Black Americans have been the victims of medical experimentation and abuse. From the forced sterilization of Black women to the use of Black bodies for medical research without their consent, the medical establishment has a long and shameful history of mistreating people of color.

But we must not despair. We must use this history as a rallying cry to demand better from our medical institutions and from society as a whole. We must demand that Black lives be valued and protected, both in the medical system and in all aspects of life. We must demand that our voices be heard and that our dignity be recognized. We must demand justice.

My dear brothers and sisters, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was a dark chapter in our history, but it is also a call to action. We must remember this story and use it as a reminder of the dangers of racism and the importance of standing up for what is right. We must never forget the lives that were lost and the pain that was inflicted, and we must work tirelessly to ensure that such atrocities never happen again.

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Let us stand together and fight for justice, for equality, and for the dignity of all people. Let us never forget the lessons of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and let us work to create a better world for future generations.