There are several dead men named as the “father” of different areas of medicine, but the most shocking is the father of gynecology: Dr. J. Marion Sims. This man was an American slave owner who practiced medicine in the mid-1800s.

Among his many medical experiments and achievements, Sims is widely recognized for his development of gynecological practices that are still in use today. Yes, this man is responsible for an early form of everyone’s favorite, the vaginal spectrum. Useful as it is, I wonder if a better, more comfortable alternative could be found if women had been present in the medical establishment from the beginning.

Dr. Sims misdeeds only begin with the spectrum. He experimented with new surgical solutions to a condition called vesicovaginal fistula, which is a particularly nasty condition that can happen during extended childbirth. He is credited with finding the first surgery that consistently repaired vesicovaginal fistula, something that generations of doctors had tried to solve. However, this important breakthrough in surgery was possible because Dr. Sims experimented on slaves who were subject to his trials without their consent.

Of the fourteen slaves he did experimental gynecological surgery on, he named three of them in his records: Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy. All three of these women suffered from vesicovaginal fistula. Dr. Sims operated on Anarcha over thirty times. It is important to note that Dr. Sims did not use anesthetics in his experimental surgery, even though they were available at the time.

According to Harriet A. Washington’s book about the history of medical experimentation on black people, Dr. Sims would never have been able to conduct so many experimental surgeries without exploiting slaves, because no white women would have agreed to it. Also, Dr. Sims believed that black women could endure more pain than white women, which is a dangerous and untrue stereotype that still exists today. This is one of the reasons why he never used anesthetics during his experiments.

The idea that black people can endure more pain than other groups comes from the history of undervaluing black people in America. Slave owners perpetrated the idea that black people could work harder and for longer because they are biologically different from white people, who could not withstand the same work.

Like many other manifestations of racism, this concept that black people are somehow unable to feel pain persists. Many white medical doctors believe that black people are biologically different from white people and allow this belief to inform their medical practice. The result of this, among other things, is that black people are substantially less likely to receive pain relief medication than white people.

The story of Dr. Sims and how he was named the “father of gynecology” is one of anti-blackness. It is important to know these stories that create the foundation for medicine, politics, and other areas of our lives. Without an uncensored understanding of how the modern systems of oppression were formed, it is unlikely that we can move forward and create real change.

Genuine Justice is a column about reproductive justice focusing on current events, historical perspectives and systematic racism in women’s healthcare.

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Jason Sole came to Iowa City on Friday to present From Prison to PhD: A Journey of Pain, Promise, and Protest. He started his presentation asking for energy and an emotional connection from the audience, asking people “to follow what I am saying with your hearts, not just your minds.”

As Jason explained how his turbulent childhood in Chicago lead to gang membership, drug dealing, and three prison sentences, he reminded listeners that “not everyone is lucky enough to get to share their story, most people don’t make it out.” This, he explained, is because when children grow up in violent or otherwise stressful communities they are not in an emotional state that allows them to succeed.

One key reason that Jason points to to further explain why children in violent communities become vulnerable to gang membership is fatherlessness. The experience of growing up without a father creates a sense of isolation and emotional tension that are too much to bear for many children, especially when combined with early exposure to violence, drug trade, and systematic poverty.

After Jason served a long prison sentence he felt that he needed a drastic change to prevent himself from getting caught up in the everything he was doing that got him into prison. He said that “out of desperation I went to college.” After excelling in his undergraduate studies, he perused graduate and postgraduate education in criminal justice studies.

Now, Jason is a professor at Hamline University in Minnesota teaching criminal justice studies. He conducts research and has recently written a book. However, Jason is deeply involved with his local community and stressed the importance of not just being an academic. Jason is the president of the Minneapolis NAACP and is on the front lines of many Black Lives Matter events.

For the second half of his presentation, Jason explained the history of the Black Lives Matter movement and reflected on questions like “what does it mean to be black at this point in history?” He also included a lot of information about the Civil Rights Movement in the mid 20th century, and drew helpful comparisons between what was happening then and what is happening now

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Throughout, he explained how white culture criminalizes black people and their responses to institutionalized racism. Indeed, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested many times and painted as a criminal by media and government officials. Explaining the connection between the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement is crucial because now people are quick to tell black people protesting injustice that they should be more like MLK, when in actuality white people didn’t like MLK back then either.

After he was done presenting, already 15 minutes over time, he promised to take every audience question and gave extended, profound answers. It was clear how passionate he is about making sure people truly understand what he is saying. Overall, this was an amazing event.

If you’re interested in learning more about modern incarceration tactics, check out 13th on Netflix — Ava DuVernay‘s brilliant documentary about the history of prisons and the modern implications of Reagan-era bullshit.

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Racism is one of those topics that people want to slide under a rug and not talk about, withstanding workplace bias challenges. Usually, it’s white people. In general, white people aren’t aware of their own privilege simply because they don’t need to be. White people don’t have to face the racial discrimination that people of color have to deal with, and even those who are aware of their privilege don’t ‘help’ out people of color.

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum writes in her article titled, “Defining Racism: ‘Can We Talk,'” that there are three forms of racism: active-racism, anti-racism, and passive-racism. She writes:

“I sometimes visualize the ongoing cycle of racism as a moving walkway at the airport. Active racist behavior is the equivalent to walking fast on the conveyor belt. The person engaged in active racist behavior has identified with the ideology of White supremacy and is moving with it. Passive racist behavior is equivalent to standing still on the walkway. No overt effort is being made, but the conveyor belt moves the bystanders along to the same destination of as those who are actively walking. Some of the bystanders may feel the motion of the conveyor belt, see the active racists ahead of them, and choose to turn around, unwilling to go to the same destination as the White supremacists. But unless they are walking actively in the opposite direction at a speed faster than the conveyor belt — unless they are actively anti-racist — they will find themselves carried along with the others.”

Active racism is behavior that would be deemed racist such as violence and overt discrimination. It’s typically fairly easy to see when someone exhibits racial behavior. These are the people who go out of their way to be racist.

Anti-racism is the exact opposite. These are the people who go out of their way to make a difference. To be different. They are the ones who are AWARE of their privilege and who do whatever they can to dismantle systematic racism. The reason these people are praised for supporting the ideas and general lives of people of color is that they are working AGAINST the system. They are going against social norms and everything that they have grown up listening to.

Finally, if you aren’t a racist who is happy for the oppression of minorities but you also aren’t doing anything to support them in escaping their oppression then you exhibit passive racism. Think back to the conveyor belt example. Just because you are facing in the opposite direction, you are still going in the same direction. You are still going the same direction as those who exhibit active-racism. Being aware of the system in which you benefit from and doing nothing about it doesn’t mean you are helping in any way. You are simply content with continuing to benefit from the oppression of others.

Choose which form of racism you want to exhibit. Putting the topic of racism underneath a rug is something we can’t do anymore. Something we should never have done. Racism is alive and that doesn’t change even though there are people who don’t believe that it still exists.

It’s obvious to see. We see it when a black football player exhibits his first amendment right and gets told to shut up and to be grateful for the fact the he was raised by white parents, we see it when unarmed black men are shot, and we see it EVERYWHERE. Racism exists wherever we look. From the people who insult and attack those of other races to the people who protest social inequality, and to the people who sit down and do nothing.

Who are you? A racist, a supporter of social equality, or someone who does nothing?

This is the tenth article of the column titled “Living in White America.” Every month there will be a new article discussing how minorities live in America. This column will have articles dealing with anything and everything that concerns the under-represented groups of White America. This could include political and social talks. Some articles may discuss cultures of different groups and interviews with a variety of people including those of the racial majority. Discrimination against everybody but the racial majority has gone on long enough and now it’s time people get a look into the worlds of those they dislike so much. 

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