The study in Tuskegee was unjustifiable, immoral, and racist. The study involved the male African-American community in a county in Alabama in which the patients had no knowledge of the disease they had, the lack of care being provided to them, or the simple fact that they where in a study! The men in the forced study had the disease know as syphilis in a time period when moral and ethical decisions were not being up held in a manner befitting a medical community. They were given placebos and told that they had "Bad Blood" so that, in the name of progress, the American medical community could see if there were any key changes in the effects of syphilis on an African-American in comparison to any other race. The results showed no differences. Syphilis still attacked these poor individuals who had no knowledge of the disease and afflicted them in a way that no person should have to go through especially when there was a cure at the time! Now to the apology.
Issued many years after the study and with good intentions I feel that the president was earnest in his apology towards the African-American community. He does not state any form of agreement towards what was done and in fact the last half of his speech lists the advances he decided to implement to prevent further atrocities from happening. As the president stated,"So let us resolve to hold forever in our hearts and minds the memory of a time not long ago in Macon County, Alabama, so that we can always see how adrift we can become when the rights of any citizens are neglected, ignored and betrayed. And let us resolve here and now to move forward together." Though some may have construed his later remarks as a call for more research subjects I feel that he was trying to get at the fact that since the Tuskegee Study the research FOR African-Americans have been severely hurt by a lack of trust. Not a call for more African-Americans to study but the rebuilding of a broken trust in the medical community that failed them long ago and to help see new heights in medical advancement of our nation.
Issued many years after the study and with good intentions I feel that the president was earnest in his apology towards the African-American community. He does not state any form of agreement towards what was done and in fact the last half of his speech lists the advances he decided to implement to prevent further atrocities from happening. As the president stated,"So let us resolve to hold forever in our hearts and minds the memory of a time not long ago in Macon County, Alabama, so that we can always see how adrift we can become when the rights of any citizens are neglected, ignored and betrayed. And let us resolve here and now to move forward together." Though some may have construed his later remarks as a call for more research subjects I feel that he was trying to get at the fact that since the Tuskegee Study the research FOR African-Americans have been severely hurt by a lack of trust. Not a call for more African-Americans to study but the rebuilding of a broken trust in the medical community that failed them long ago and to help see new heights in medical advancement of our nation.
I agree that President Clinton was earnest in his apology. I felt as thought you could tell he felt truly disturbed at what the U.S government did to it's own citizens, especially a community that had been wronged in the nation's past several times over. In his concluding statement he said that yes, what the government did was horrendously wrong but it was in the hands of those wronged to forgive.
ReplyDeleteI feel like President Clinton did an excellent job handling this situation. He knew there was no legitimate response that would validate what had happened, so instead he came clean and, more or less, decided to start over with building America's level of trust toward its government. Sometimes it's best to just give in and, figuratively speaking, let the saltwater come and wash its way over the wound--the process is painful at first, but overall it results in a faster and more permanent healing. Therefore, I give Clinton props for how he handled his formal apology to the public!
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