Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present

In the 2007 nonfiction book Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, medical researcher Harriet A. Washington describes the long history of American medical experiments on Black Americans. Although some of these abuses are well-known, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the book presents a comprehensive history that describes the long-standing pattern of exploitative practices. By uncovering how American medicine has been built upon the abuse of Black people, Washington hopes to repair relations between doctors and Black Americans, thereby bridging the gap between the health profiles of white and Black people in the US.

Harriet A. Washington is a writer and important figure in the field of medical ethics. Medical Apartheid, her first book, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN Oakland Award, and the American Library Association Black Caucus Nonfiction Award. Her other books include Infectious Madness and Deadly Monopolies.

This guide references the paperback edition of Medical Apartheid, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in 2008.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide include discussions of racism, eugenics, and medical experimentation.

Summary

Part 1 of Medical Apartheid focuses on the historic treatment of African Americans by scientists and doctors.