Henrietta Lack Research Paper

Sarah Bart
November 30, 2010
Comp 1
Stereotyping: Teen Pregnancy Judging people is a concept that children learn at a very young age. They constantly hear their parents talking about other families they know and their reputations. It’s just one of those facts of life that you were conditioned to know. Consequently, conclusions about different types of races and different types of classes are jumped to all the time. Is there a reason so many people have different standards for different races, especially in poverty stricken areas? Teen pregnancy is a growing problem in the U.S and sadly there is a correlation among races and socioeconomic standing. Lack of educational classes regarding sex, censorship in the media, and unobtainable contraceptives
On the other hand, the highest percentage of teen pregnancies occurs in these types of situations. Take Henrietta Lacks for example. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, is tragic story that starts out with introducing an underprivileged family. Henrietta was only 14 years of age when she first conceived a child with one of her cousins. Whether or not the pregnancies at young ages were a direct result to her cancer, it was a factor none the less. Later on in the story after Henrietta was deceased, Deborah, one of Henrietta’s children was living with her older brother Lawrence, his girlfriend Bobbette, and the rest of her siblings plus her father. When Deborah was 12, Bobbette insisted that she not have sex with any of her cousins due to the unfortunate event that happened to her sister Elsie. Bobbette made her promise that she wouldn’t and Deborah fought them off of her when they tried (Skloot 112-117). The way Bobbette handled the situation, taught Deborah right from and wrong in that instance. Sadly, only two short years later, Deborah was pregnant at the age of 14. She later dropped out of school to attend an all girl school (Skloot 144). There are many educational programs to help prevent teen
In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot mentions the Tuskegee project when she was talking on the phone with a scientist wanting information to get to Henrietta’s family. The scientist was drilling her with questions about African Americans and science. She eclaims that the researchers, who performed the study, claim the African American race to be, “‘a notoriously syphilis-soaked race’” (Skloot 50). Although I do not agree with the way the study was collected, the researchers were not wrong in choosing African Americans to perform the study on. In “Remarks by the President in Apology for Study Done in Tuskegee,” former President, Bill Clinton, makes a nation-wide apology to the survivors of the study at Tuskegee and the families of the targeted men who are no longer living. I do agree with the apology because the way the men were treated and just left to die was completely uncalled for, however, after all, according to , “Trends in Reportable Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the United States, 2004,” in 2000, reported cases of black adults with syphilis compared to reported cases of white adults having syphilis was 24 times greater. Other instances of the media proving stereotypes true and promoting sexual activities among teens, occur in movies such as “Juno”, and “Precious”. Juno is a comical film that many teenagers can relate too, however,