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     Who do you lean on when you are not strong? I know that almost all of you tuning into this podcast has heard of the song “Lean on Me” that echoes words similar to these. Bill Withers wanted his listeners to know that helping others in their time of need is a personal interest and a selfless charity. As a young girl, I endured a lot more than the “average” child would. No, this podcast is not meant to sound like a sob story and no, I am not trying to host a pity party, but my unfortunate childhood experiences have shaped this belief I will forever live by. I believe that nobody should go through life alone. We all know the line, “Lean on me when you’re not strong and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on” I have always been the person that people come to whenever they undergo any form of emotional distress. I have always been the “therapist friend”. Not to sound arrogant, but without me, what would my friends do in times of trouble? I believe that being that person for someone can help relieve them of so many emotional and mental strains. I intend to relay the significant details of my narration to all of you listeners as well as the ideas that connect my story to this belief, so you can too believe that we all need somebody to lean on. 

     It was the summer of 2015 and I was overly ecstatic to reach middle school. I mean who wouldn’t be, I was going to pre-high school! I felt like nothing could stop me from being my best self during my time here, but I did not envision the potential problems that could come my way. My middle school experience essentially was a battlefield in which I had to play warrior. I endured the obstacle of bullying during 7th and 8th grade, for very foolish reasons looking back on it now. 

     I was a year younger than most of my peers since I was skipped in 1st grade, and many antagonized me physically and verbally for something I ultimately could not control. Throughout middle school, I began exploring my sexuality and particularly found myself interested in women. I was not afraid to show this, and not only my peers, but my family members, judged and criticized me for loving who I wanted to love. Again, the physical and verbal torment continued simply for me being me. I have always been passionate about my academics to the point where it was what I was known for, but children love to bully the “nerds”. I would be threatened if I did not do people’s assignments, again physically and verbally assaulted, and even talked about on social media. 

     These experiences broke me down completely, and I reached out to counselors, family members, and friends on numerous accounts for some type of support or help to ease these unwanted feelings as a result of my bullying. Sad to say though, no one was there for me when I needed them. As Bill Wither says, “For it won’t be long till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on”. All of my cries for help went unnoticed, and I endured a lot of personal destruction because of it. As I got older, I reflected on these experiences and used them as a way to define myself by the brightness I see of my future. I refused to be defined by the pain of my past and I planned to dedicate my life to being a light for others, since I did not have that. As stated earlier, I try to provide a shoulder to lean on when people need it and I believe that providing that “shoulder” aids in helping those who may deal with the daily struggles’ life throws at us. 

     I aspire to become a lawyer who defends the wrongfully accused or a sexual assault prosecutor for children. I believe these people are amongst some of the most vulnerable in society, and if they had a support system, things can get better for them. Pursuing these careers will allow me to provide that “shoulder” for my clients. Being able to defend their name successfully and give them the justice they deserve will make them feel like they have a trusted and dependable person in their lives. If I continuously advocate for the vulnerable, the unheard, the unnoticed, I will build trust, and showcase that no matter what you endure, nobody should go through life alone. This is what I believe.

This blog post will discuss where the origins of racism in the medical system stemmed from, which eventually led to the mistrust between blacks and the system. I will also include a small summary about a very important historical study that showcases one of the more prominent reasons why African Americans lack this trust.

Yes, research shows that several African Americans do not trust their healthcare providers/systems to act in their best interests and yes research shows that blacks are much less likely to report trust in their physicians and hospitals. I am sure that you believe that this is all due to the past mistreatment of black Americans, when in reality, the contemporary practices of health care exhibits significant reasons why as well. Things such as inequitable access to health insurance, a lack of health care facilities in black communities, and treatments to institutional practices all play a role in the continued mistrust of the medical system.

Dating back to earlier times, Darwinism (a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin) had a heavy influence on the structure of and unethical behaviors that occurred in the medical field. Darwin argued that primitive people could not be assimilated into white civilization. Scientists at the time noted that African Americans were prone to disease, vice and crime, and there was no way that education o0r philanthropy could help. Social Darwinists believed that the Negro race in America was in the throes of a degenerative evolutionary process. Physicians whom studied the emancipation on health concluded that freedom due to the abolishment of slavery had caused the mental, moral, and physical deterioration of the black population. Many physicians compared the anatomy of blacks and white and any differences noted were used t0 classify African Americans as the lowest species in Darwinian theory.

Doctors explained that Negros possessed an excessive sexual desire, which threatened the foundation of white society. Doctors also reported s lack of morality in black Americans. Physicians believed that lust, immorality, unstable families, and reversion to barbaric tendencies made black people especially prone to venereal diseases. Doctors at the time were set on the idea that better medical care for black people could not alter the “evolutionary scheme” they are a part of. As you can see, a lot of doctors, physicians, and scientist who made up the early beginning of the medical system embedded racial bias and personal views into their work. They tried to find loopholes and justifications for these unethical and immoral treatments such as anatomical structures and their “intensive sexual desires”.

To conclude, I want to give a small preview to a very important study conducted by the American medical system that was never meant to observe the health of black, but instead to undermine the African American race. On July 25, 1972, the public learned that, over the course of the previous 40 years, a medical experiment conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service in Tuskegee, Alabama had allowed hundreds of African American men with syphilis to go untreated so that scientists could “study the effects of the disease”. This experiment was never meant to observe and determine the natural course of untreated, latent syphilis in black men; it was used as a tool to undermine the African American race. Doctors, physicians, government officials, and more (both black and white) worked together to “accomplish what man cannot do”. This is a prominent example of why minorities, especially black people, unfortunately do not trust the medical system and I will be discussing this in further detail in my next blog post.

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/2021/jan/medical-mistrust-among-black-americans

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/347780-black-americans-dont-have-trust-in-our-healthcare-system?rl=1

https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/3372911