Medical Racism from 1619 to the Present: History Matters || Harvard Radcliffe Institute

Lack of trust in the US healthcare system among communities of color is inextricably linked to the history of systemic racism in this country. With fewer than half of Black American adults indicating that they will definitely or probably get vaccinated against COVID-19, understanding the roots of this hesitancy—which dates back centuries—is critical to battling the disease. Speakers on this panel examine the roots in slavery of contemporary African American mistrust of the healthcare system, the lack of trust in medical providers fostered by experiences of everyday racism, and the African American community’s long dependence, born of necessity, on care from within the community.

Panelists
Jim Downs, Gilder Lehrman NEH Chair of Civil War Era Studies and History, Gettysburg College

Susan M. Reverby, Marion Butler McLean Professor Emerita in the History of Ideas and professor emerita of women’s and gender studies, Wellesley College

Moderated by Evelynn Hammonds, chair of the Department of the History of Science, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science, and professor of African and African American studies, Harvard University

This program is presented as part of the presidential initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery, a University-wide effort housed at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, in collaboration with the Project on Race & Gender in Science & Medicine at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

For information about Harvard Radcliffe Institute and its many public programs, visit https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/.

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0:00 Introduction
5:16 Jim Downs
15:23 Susan M. Reverby
22:49 Panel Discussion
40:39 Audience Q&A