Medical Racism: A Legacy of Malpractice – w/ Deirdre Cooper Owens

This nation has a long history of exploiting Black Americans in the name of medicine. A practice which began with the Founding Fathers using individual enslaved persons for gruesome experimentation evolved into state-sanctioned injustices such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, among others. Award-winning author, historian Deirdre Cooper Owens details a chronology of medical malpractice and racist misconceptions about health while highlighting lesser-known stories of medical innovations by African Americans.

Be sure to visit the enhanced episode transcript for additional classroom resources for teaching about medical racism during the Jim Crow era.

Like this online exhibition – Déjà Vu, We’ve Been Here Before: Race, Health, and Epidemics. This helpful resource was created by some of Dr. Cooper Owens' students for the Library Company of Philadelphia, where she also serves as Director of the Program in African American History.

And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.