February is Black History Month, and if you also came from a family of well intentioned people who asked questions like, “but why don’t we have a white history month…” then this newsletter is for you. I want to start by confessing that I also once thought I didn’t see color and that was a good thing, and I’ve come to learn that is not helpful at all. I’ve been a student of German history and utterly appalled by the atrocities of World War 2 for a very long time, but it wasn’t until the last few years that I truly dug deeper into our own terrible history here in the US. Once I scratched beyond the surface of the basics I was taught and plugged in my empathy and connection to this country we call home, my eyes were opened not only to our terrible racist past, but also to our present that continues to be infected by our refusal to confront the consequences of our past crimes against humanity.
Scroll down to read three reasons that Black History should matter to you, even if you aren’t a Black American.
1. Racism is part of why much of America doesn’t have access to midwifery care.
Black midwives were revered and much coveted slaves, but represented competition to white male obstetricians after the civil war. The all out campaign against midwifery employed racist tropes as part of the means to get everyone inside of a hospital and away from the “dirty midwives” who had previously only called physicians for emergencies. As the OBs pushed out the black midwives they pulled people into hospitals to deliver their babies and you can almost directly trace this part of black history to rise of the hyper-technocratic model of birth here in the US.
2. J. Marion Sims abused slaves for his gynecological research, and tools named after him are still used on our bodies.
I see the sims speculum used ALL the time to visually examine a cervix after someone gives birth for example. The picture at the top of this email is of the statues honoring the women he tortured without anesthesia, and the only 3 names we know are Anarcha, Lucy, & Betsey. The enslaved women that Sims tortured and operated on without anesthesia and forced to act as nurses to each other, they are the real heroes that should be revered in American and medical history, not just black history.
3. Strains on the system cost you more money & medical staff more time/resources.
So long as the racist inequities in this country continue, they will continue to increase the cost of healthcare. So long as systemic racism persists in this country, the physical effects of the stress on Black bodies will require more time and resources. If for no other reason, you should learn about Black History because of how it will effect your care and bottom line!
Individual blame and change is not going to fix this; a systemic overhaul is necessary. Start with YOU and keep going. Ignoring the issues won’t fix them. This effects ALL of us, and its past time to reckon with our past! Black history matters to all of us, because of the direct through lines in what we’re experiencing now here in the United States. Keep learning and digging to find the truth, and not just the white washed version that you may have been fed.
