Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century

Bacon’s Rebellion began in the American colony of Virginia in 1676, spanning several months until it concluded in 1677. The rebellion consisted of European and African servants banding together in opposition to the colonial governor’s refusal to support westward expansion. Leading the rebellion was Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy landowner and resident of Bacon’s Castle, a building still standing today.

Bacon’s Rebellion directly prompted the codification of the categories of “white” and “Negro.” Wealthy landowners, whose stability was threatened by the insurrection, made race a political and legal category. This change enabled the expansion and further codification of race-based slavery with the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705. By the early 1700s, race-based slavery had been established legally and culturally.

BiDil was the first drug authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be marketed exclusively to African Americans. The provenance of this authorization demonstrates how race has been biologized in science and also within the FDA’s approval process. While BiDil initially was tested on a racial range of patients, it was later re-tested exclusively on African Americans. This adjusted testing took place precisely so that the drug could receive funding and FDA authorization as a drug targeted for African Americans.