The Myth of Innate Racial Differences Between White and Black People's Bodies: Lessons From the 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Myth of Innate Racial Differences Between White and Black People's Bodies: Lessons From the 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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DOI：
10.2105/ajph.2019.305245
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发表时间：
2019-10-01
影响因子：
12.7
通讯作者：
Hogarth, Rana Asali
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Hogarth, Rana Asali
在这篇评论中，我提出了这样一个问题：尽管有相反的证据，但为什么医学话语中仍然存在对黑人和白人身体之间根本性的、先天的种族差异的信念。我将其中一些信念的根源归咎于 1793 年席卷宾夕法尼亚州费城的臭名昭著的黄热病流行病。在那场早期的公共卫生危机中，白人医生和普通民众错误地认为黑人因其种族而对黄热病免疫。然后，我强调了费城的黑人领袖，即阿布萨罗姆·琼斯和理查德·艾伦，在疫情期间为挑战黑人和白人之间根本性和先天差异的信念所做的努力。最后，我要求我们考虑一下，黑人身体有奇特之处的错误信念如何成为医学知识生产中的一个特征，而不是一种异常。事实上，我指出了 20 世纪的医学实验和 21 世纪的新药营销如何受到这种持续存在但不正确的假设的支持，即存在先天的种族差异。
In this commentary, I take up the question of why beliefs in fundamental, innate racial differences between Black and White people's bodies persist in medical discourse, despite evidence to the contrary.I locate the origin of some of these beliefs in the infamous yellow fever epidemic that struck Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1793. During that early public health crisis, White physicians and lay people erroneously thought that Black people were immune to yellow fever because of their race. I then highlight the efforts of Philadelphia's Black leaders during the epidemic-namely Absalom Jones and Richard Allen-to-challenge the belief in fundamental and innate differences between Blacks and Whites.I conclude by asking us to consider how the false belief that there is something peculiar about Black people's bodies has become a feature, not an aberration, in the production of medical knowledge. Indeed, I point out how medical experimentation in the 20th century and in the marketing of new drugs in the 21st century have been buttressed by this persistent yet incorrect assumption that innate racial differences exist.